Damage Control
by TeamSalvatore
Summary: The basic Bulma/Vegeta love story set in "those 3 years," with a few twists here and there and more action than your typical B/V. How did these two very difficult people fall in love? This is my first attempt to answer that burning question. **COMPLETE**
1. Slip Up

-1This idea isn't totally original in itself, but I put a little twist on it. I created a new enemy for the "Z fighters" to face pre-Android Saga. What/who it is will come to light in later chapters. Enjoy the more humorous beginning of the story for now (it will get darker later on). It is told from Goku's perspective as well as Vegeta's and Bulma's, but don't worry, there will be plenty of B/V scenes minus Goku. I had to put Goku in this story… he's just too damn lovable. Thanks, R&R, hope you enjoy. _Italics_ = thoughts. P.S. New chapter to be posted at least once a week.

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ. (That's just stating the obvious… is this thing really necessary?)

_***_

**Chapter One - Slip Up**

_***_

_Gosh, I sure hope Trunks made it back to the future okay… _Goku thought as he lay next to Chi-Chi, unable to sleep. His wife had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, and he watched her as she smiled contentedly in her slumber, just happy to have him back.

It had been quite an eventful day for Goku, and his mind was racing. Amidst the happy reunion with his son and wife, he had a daunting task ahead of him: training to become stronger than a pack of virtually unbeatable super robots. When Trunks had pulled Goku aside and told him that he would soon die of a virus and leave the androids to destroy his future, his family, and his friends… it was difficult to comprehend.

_Trunks… the son of Vegeta and Bulma. _

Goku smirked in spite of himself. Perhaps if he were more observant, he would have called that pairing months ago. _They're perfect for each other. Those tempers…_

Bulma was throwing a little party at Capsule Corp next week to celebrate Goku's return and give everyone a chance to relax before the intensive training began… he was definitely going to look out for the 'signs' between the two.

_If, that is, Vegeta bothers to show his face in public. I can see it now… Vegeta and Bulma going to the movies. Vegeta and Bulma getting married. Vegeta and Bulma Christmas cards._

Goku snickered, and moments later, finally fell asleep.

***

"MOM!" Bulma yelled as she scaled the vast hallways of Capsule Corp. "Mom, have you seen the dragon radar? I swear I'm about to gather the dragon balls and wish this party were over already!"

She was carrying two heavy boxes of decorations--streamers, banners, balloons, etc.--trying to figure out a suitable place to hang them. She hadn't even decided whether she was hosting the party inside or outside yet.

In her decision making, or lack thereof, she had forgotten that the second box she carried was directly blocking her line of vision, and consequently she lost her footing on an upturned rug she couldn't see. "Oh, crap!" she squealed as she began tumbling backwards onto the floor, waiting for the deafening crash the decoration boxes were sure to make.

Bulma waited, but the crash never came. She willed herself to open her eyes, and saw the boxes suspended in the air above her. She gritted her teeth and moved her head farther back to see who had caught them.

"Vegeta?" she said, slightly surprised to see him outside of the gravity chamber.

"Earthlings are so graceful. Honestly, we Saiyans could learn a thing or two from _your_ example," he said, chuckling. Bulma picked herself up, cheeks burning, anger rising.

"Oh, I see how it is, you save the boxes and let me fall? Real gentlemanly of you, Vegeta," she said. Vegeta huffed, releasing his grip on the boxes and letting them crash to the ground. The decorations spilt out and spread across the floor.

"Is that better?" he said. "By the way, I punched a hole in the gravity chamber and now the damned machine won't let me increase gravity. I'll need it running back in perfect condition in two hours."

Bulma gawked after him as he began heading in the direction of his room, sweaty from head to toe, still in his training shorts. _If he thinks I'm tearing myself away from getting the house ready for this party he's crazy. Two hours? Everyone is supposed to be here in two hours!_

She stared at his retreating figure a little too long, and blushing for no reason in particular, began cleaning up the mess she would have made even if Vegeta hadn't intervened.

***

"Oh Bulma, it looks beautiful out here!" her mother said, praising her decorating skills. Bulma stood beside her mother, hands on her hips, quite proud of herself and the task she'd accomplished in less than one hour. She'd chosen to keep the party outside after all.

"Oh, good, the caterers are here!" said Bulma, and after she directed them where to set up and serve, she began heading inside to get ready. Just before she disappeared through the front doors, however, Yamcha arrived.

"Bulma! Hey babe!" he said, putting his arm around her waist and pulling her into an embrace. She resisted the sentiment, however.

"Nice of you to finally show up, Yamcha! I told you to be here at ten, it's almost one o'clock! Set up is done, I'm going to get ready now, so you're just going to have to wait for the party to start," she said.

Yamcha knew he was in trouble. "Sorry hun, I got caught up! I can help you get ready…"

"I DON'T NEED HELP GETTING READY!" Bulma said. "Why don't you go stand by the entrance and take people's coats or something?"

She began muttering expletives about good-for-nothing boyfriends as she entered Capsule Corp and headed straight for the shower. Once she was inside the bedroom-sized bathroom with the door locked, she realized she hadn't brought a change of clothes with her. Or a towel, for that matter.

_Oh well. My room's right next door, _she thought. She began peeling off her blouse and jeans and stepped inside the shower, turning the knobs until she found the perfect water temperature. She stepped back out of the shower and started to get fully undressed when she heard a shuffling noise behind her.

She turned slowly and nearly fell back into the shower when she saw Vegeta standing there, a faint crimson blush glowing on his cheeks. He had nothing but a towel around his chiseled abdomen, but that was nothing compared to the mere satin black bra and panties she had yet to remove.

A long, awkward silence thickened the air between them. They stared each other down, somehow unable to avert their gazes, until Bulma finally found her voice.

"Are you really so out of touch with the human race that you don't even know how to lock a door? Jeez, Vegeta, you could have told me you were in here before I started stripping down."

He scowled. "Woman, this place has at least fifteen bathrooms, did you have to choose _this_ one?"

"Oh please, Vegeta, what are you implying? I didn't follow you in here, you know!"

He ignored her and began shuffling out of the bathroom.

"By the way, Vegeta," Bulma said before he could leave. "I'm not going to have time to fix the gravity room until after the party, so you have to wait."

"WHAT? Where exactly do you expect me to train in the mean time?" he growled.

"I don't care! Why don't you come to the party, I'm sure everyone will be absolutely _thrilled_ to see you!"

After that, Vegeta stomped down the hallway in a huff and disappeared behind a corner, never replying or looking back at her. Yamcha made his way upstairs at that moment.

"What was the yelling match about this time?" he asked, clearly amused. He had expressed to Bulma many times his displeasure about Vegeta living with her, and he never failed to rejoice when he saw just how inharmoniously they got along.

"Nothing! Go tell my mom I'll be downstairs in twenty minutes." Bulma slammed the door in his face, leaving Yamcha bewildered and alone in the hallway.

***

_That blasted woman_, Vegeta thought as he shifted through the pile of "human" clothes Bulma continuously supplemented for him. He eyed his pink Bad Man shirt and quickly tossed it aside with a disapproving grunt.

_I can't believe I'm going to this party. Damned planet is making me weak. A true warrior has no time for such trivialities._

He settled for a rather ordinary plain blue long sleeve and green cargo pants. Matching wasn't one of his strong points.

His thoughts trailed back to Bulma, and how she had barged in on him in the bathroom and immediately began undressing, giving him no time to escape. The way her nearly naked body looked bathed in the sunlight that filtered through the bathroom window…

_That BLASTED woman_, he thought again, in an effort to interrupt his unseemly daydream.

_If she would just fix my gravity room I wouldn't have time to go to this stupid party!_

His stomach growled, reminding him of the reason he had resolved to attend the party in the first place. Knowing Bulma, she probably wouldn't let him eat unless he went.

***

Goku, on the other hand, was all too eager for Bulma's party, and much to Chi-Chi's surprise, was fully dressed and ready to go when she announced that it was time to leave.

"Wow, Goku, this is certainly a first!" she said, turning to Gohan. "Your daddy is finally growing up, Gohan!"

The young half-Saiyan chuckled.

"Haha, gee, thanks Chi-Chi, I'm really trying," Goku said, grabbing his wife's wrist and using his free hand to grab Gohan's shoulder.

"Alright, let's go!"

He used instant transmission, and the family was standing outside Capsule Corp a split second later.

"Oh my…" Chi-Chi said. She knew her husband was capable of many great things, but she never imagined instantaneous movement would be one of them.

The three made their way into the back yard. Everyone was there already; Yamcha, Puar, Tien, Chiaotzu, Krillin, Oolong, Master Roshi… even Piccolo. Bulma and her parents were also in attendance, of course, and much to Goku's amusement, Vegeta stood characteristically off to the side, trying to make his annoyance with his very existence on Earth as obvious as possible.

_Wow. Bulma's already got him going to parties. Christmas cards are next._

Then Goku spotted his favorite thing of all…

"FOOD!"

The greetings he received from his friends upon his arrival disappeared somewhere between the first and seventh course.

"Hey, Goku, think you could save some for the rest of us?" Krillin asked, however jokingly.

Once the food was gone, the group fell into conversation and laughter, reflecting on the past and revealing hopes and worries for the all-too-imminent future. Goku eventually broke away from the nostalgic conversation to speak with Vegeta.

"How's your training going?" he asked. Vegeta eyed him suspiciously.

"Why? Trying to copy my training techniques, eh, Kakkarot?" He smirked.

"Haha, whatever you say, Vegeta."

Goku turned to Piccolo next, who, like Vegeta, had also separated himself from the group and stood alone on the other side of the yard in an apparently meditative state.

"So, Piccolo, what do you think about Bulma and Vegeta?" Goku asked.

Thanks to Piccolo's super Namek hearing, he too knew about Bulma and Vegeta's eventual coupling. He heard every word Trunks and Goku had said, no matter how many yards separated him from them.

"I think that if you keep talking about it, Trunks will never exist in this timeline," Piccolo said.

Goku covered his mouth and looked around to see if anyone had been listening. "That wouldn't be very good!" he said.

Piccolo opened his eyes and fixed his stare on Vegeta's back.

"Bulma will soften Vegeta. Maybe she can bring out the potential for goodness in him, the way Gohan did with me. Perhaps a day will come when we don't have to worry about him turning on us."

"You're right. Not to mention, having a warrior like Trunks in our ranks could really help us against enemies in the future," said Goku. "Yeah, it definitely wouldn't be good if they don't end up together. I sure hope Trunks coming to this timeline didn't affect anything."

"If anything is standing in their way, it's you, Goku. Just don't talk about it."

After his exchange with Piccolo, Goku wandered over to partake in a tug-of-war between Gohan and Oolong on one end, and Yamcha, Krillin, and Master Roshi on the other. He grabbed the end of Gohan's rope, gave it the slightest of tugs, and sent Yamcha, Krillin, and Master Roshi toppling over each other.

"Jeez, Goku! Give us weaklings a fair shot, would ya?" Yamcha said as he tried to untangle his hair from Krillin's jacket zipper.

Goku just laughed. "So, Yamcha, how did Bulma handle it?" he asked.

Yamcha looked confused. "Handle what?"

"The break-up! You guys haven't said a word to each other all afternoon!"

"We're just fighting. I was supposed to help Bulma set up for the party but I came too late. You know how she gets…"

Shrugging, Goku folded his arms, turned away from Yamcha and muttered to himself (though not as quietly as he imagined), "Guess Bulma and Vegeta haven't happened yet."

Yamcha was dumbstruck. "WHAT? WHAT DO YOU MEAN, BULMA AND VEGETA?"

He yelled so loudly it caught the attention of everyone present at the party, Bulma and Vegeta included. Piccolo groaned and slapped his hand against his forehead.

_Goku… what have you done?_

***

Chapter Two - Compromise, coming soon! Vegeta leaves Capsule Corp as a result of Goku's actions, and with nowhere to go, is forced to train, sleep, and eat in the forest. When Goku finally finds him, he has no luck convincing the proud prince to return… that is, until he makes an offer even Vegeta can't refuse.

Please R&R. It'll give me more motivation to write… :P


	2. Compromise

-1Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ.

***

**Chapter Two - Compromise**

***

_Goku… what have you done?_

Piccolo's thoughts reverberated through his head as loudly as Yamcha's outcry.

"What did you mean about Bulma and Vegeta, Goku? DO YOU KNOW SOMETHING I DON'T?" Yamcha demanded, suddenly infuriated.

Goku's eyes widened. "No! I don't know anything, honestly, I don't know what you're talking about!" He waved his hands in front of his face nervously.

"Hey, what's going on, what did I do to deserve my name used in the same sentence as Vegeta's?" Bulma asked. Yamcha turned on her, but before he could accuse her of anything, loud bellows erupted from Piccolo's direction.

The Namek was busting up laughing and pointing at Goku. "Good one, Goku!" he said, using his other hand to hold his stomach as if the laughter were sending shooting pains through his abdomen. "I can't believe you actually went through with it! Yamcha, you should have seen the look on your face!"

"Mr. Piccolo, are you saying my dad was playing a prank?" Gohan asked, unsure.

Piccolo nodded, allowing a few more fake chuckles to escape his lips before calming down. Yamcha was calming down as well, and Goku caught on to Piccolo's plan seconds later.

"Yeah, sorry Yamcha! I couldn't resist!" he said.

Bulma narrowed her eyes. "Some prank," she muttered. Goku was just about to let out a sigh of relief when Vegeta approached him. He was livid.

"How dare you even suggest such a thing, Kakkarot! I am a Saiyan prince! How dare you even joke about the possibility that I would ever lower myself to the level of a low class human _wench_!"

"Well gee, Vegeta, unless you can find yourself a Saiyan princess, you're kind of… out of luck!" Goku said, rubbing the back of his head and releasing a nervous, high-pitched laugh, which was quickly stifled in response to the death stare Vegeta gave him.

"I don't need a romantic assessment from you, Kakkarot. Now shut up and leave me alone!"

"Excuse me!" Bulma said. "I think you're forgetting about someone here! This _wench_ cooks for you, does your laundry, and fixes the gravity chamber at all hours of the day, and do I ever get a thank you? Some prince you are, you don't even know the first thing about manners! If anybody is low class here, it's YOU."

"Woman! Your insolence will never cease to amaze me! You seem to be under the impression that I'm _dependent_ on you. Sickening. I don't need your charity!" And with that, Vegeta blasted off, visibly mortified and cursing his attempts to integrate himself within a group of absolute morons, as he mentally referred to them.

"Yeah, good riddance!" Yamcha called after him as soon as Vegeta was out of earshot.

_Oh, no! _Goku thought. _Trunks never mentioned Vegeta leaving Capsule Corp… shoot, I really did it this time!_

His thoughts were interrupted by a slap across the face that surprised him much more than it hurt him.

"What has gotten into you, Goku, you have completely embarrassed this family!" It was Chi-Chi, and she was _mad_. "Come on, Gohan, we're going home! Goku, you better instant transport… transmit… TRANSWHATEVER us out of here this moment!"

Gohan grabbed hold of his mother's hand obediently while Goku protested. "But Chi-Chi, I-"

"NO GOKU. I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT. WE'RE LEAVING NOW."

Defeated, Goku used his instant transmission technique to teleport his family back home, leaving behind his speechless friends.

***

Later that night, Bulma found herself fixing the hole in the gravity chamber. Vegeta hadn't returned yet, and she had a sinking feeling that the proud Saiyan prince wasn't planning on it.

Bulma wasn't exactly sure why she was fixing the machine. Perhaps it was for the same reason she had allowed Vegeta to live with her in the first place. The same reason she did his laundry, made his food, and provided him with necessary first aid when he got a little out of control during his training.

Truthfully, she was fixing the gravity room in hopes that Vegeta would return. She liked having him around, as tirelessly arrogant as he was. He challenged her intelligence in a way no other man could. He was fascinating. The few times he had let his guard down enough to actually hold a conversation with her, she had hung on his every word.

Was he gone for good? She couldn't say. She remembered how boring things had been without him when he stole her spaceship and left to search for Goku in space. That same boredom was threatening to creep upon her again.

Silently, she regretted the insults she'd so carelessly thrown at him earlier that day. She had no excuse for her behavior. Although her upbringing was less than normal, it was stable, hardly traumatizing, nothing compared to the life Vegeta knew. Growing up with Frieza… she couldn't even imagine it. His whole planet was destroyed. His family. Every person he had ever known. Thinking back to the moment she'd met him on Namek, and the mercy he'd shown her simply by not exerting the energy to kill her… that mercy was just a hint of the goodness within him, masked by years of torment.

Bulma knew Goku understood this about Vegeta. That is why he allowed Vegeta to live among them. He saw a spark of goodness within the proud prince. And so did she.

***

"Get back here! Nobody runs from the prince of all Saiyans!"

It was nighttime. It had been eight hours since Vegeta left Capsule Corp. Eight hours since he had last eaten. He was hungry. So hungry in fact, that he was barking out orders to a fleeing deer.

The deer was no match for Vegeta's ki blast, which hit the poor thing head on and sent it flying into a nearby tree. He blasted it a second time, roasting it whole, and began tearing off pieces of meat and biting into them fiercely.

_Look at me! A prince forced to hunt down food like some kind of predator… like an animal! _

Not that Vegeta wasn't used to it. His years under Frieza had taught him to be resourceful. It was the comfortable months he'd spent on Earth recently that spoiled him now.

_That woman… I knew I was growing soft. I can't even enjoy this pitiful meal._

Growling, Vegeta tossed the roasted carcass aside and began forming a game plan. He needed to find a good place to train… a large clearing, perhaps.

_But where's the challenge in that? Without that gravity chamber this planet is worthless to me!_

Vegeta stopped himself. _No. I don't need the gravity chamber. I don't need that blasted woman. I don't need a fancy home cooked meal. I just need… to ascend!_

He roared in frustration as he powered up, his energy emanating from his body, framing it, making the ground rumble beneath his feet.

He began throwing kicks in the air, assaulting an invisible opponent. He pictured his eventual rematch with Goku once he, too, gained the power of a Super Saiyan. The very thought made him smile in anticipation.

As soon as the inevitable battle entered his mind, Vegeta sensed a familiar energy nearby.

_Kakkarot. What is he doing out here? He can't possibly be… searching for me?_

But he was. As soon as Chi-Chi stopped ranting about how childish Goku had been for playing a prank on Yamcha and causing Vegeta to fly away in a fit, Goku took to the skies, desperate to find Vegeta and convince him to return to Capsule Corp.

As soon as Vegeta flared his energy and began training, Goku used instant transmission to locate him. But he was having a hard time finding his rival in the dark, and the fact that Vegeta began masking his energy as soon as he sensed Goku wasn't helping, either.

"Vegeta? Vegeta, I know you're out here! Come on… I was only joking…"

_Humph. Kakkarot. All you do is joke around. You're not worthy of Saiyan blood, you fool._

Vegeta kept his energy hidden until Goku gave up for the night. But he wasn't fully giving up yet…

_I have to find Vegeta! _Goku thought. _I have to fix this!_

He teleported back home, dejected, and Vegeta continued training undisturbed.

***

The following day found Vegeta standing outside a deli twenty miles east of West City with his mouth slightly watering as he watched civilians chow down on roast beef and turkey sandwiches.

He was caught in an inner struggle between his hunger and his dignity. He had no money to speak of, and he couldn't exactly see himself robbing a bank. He considered marching up to the cashier and threatening bodily harm unless a tray of sandwiches was produced and handed to him.

_Too risky. Kakkarot will hear about it somehow and find me. That idiot… why is he still looking for me?_

Vegeta could sense Goku's exerted energy each time he used instant transmission or took flight. He was close--no matter where Vegeta went, Goku sensed him and followed him. Vegeta had been forced to mask his ki, and as a result hadn't been able to train or hunt down food without a flicker of his energy showing up on Goku's incessantly accurate ki radar.

He looked on in disgust as a plump woman threw the remainder of her third sandwich in the trash after scarfing down two before it. He wasn't about to go digging through the trash, of course, and slowly retreated back into the surrounding forestry.

_That woman… _he thought, not referring to the wasteful plump woman, but to Bulma--the azure-haired spitfire that prevented Vegeta from returning to Capsule Corp. He couldn't take another minute of her insolence. She infuriated him so much he wasn't sure he could control himself around her--if he went back now he'd either blast her into oblivion, or…

Vegeta shook the remainder of that thought out of his head immediately. He had experienced very conflicting emotions when it came to Bulma ever since he met her. For the life of him, he couldn't understand why he hadn't destroyed her on Namek, or why he'd agreed to stay on her compound. True, the Capsule Corporation was an ideal dwelling for someone like Vegeta, but he could find much better training grounds in space… _Not without her spaceship, though_, he thought.

A growl rumbled deep within his chest. He was determined to prove he didn't need Bulma or her services, but his experience in the wild thus far said otherwise. He just didn't understand that woman. She acted as though she loathed him, but at the same time she was the closest thing on this planet that he had to a friend. No matter how many times he broke the gravity chamber, she fixed it. No matter what his need--be it food or fresh training clothes or first aid--she met it, complaining constantly along the way, but never once refusing him. Perhaps she would be less inclined to insult him if he thanked her every once in a while. It wasn't that he wasn't grateful for her help; he was simply too stubborn to admit it, and too angered by the fact that he needed it at all. His pride bound his ability to show gratitude, as well as every other emotion besides frustration, anger, annoyance, and pure rage.

Lost in his thoughts, Vegeta had forgotten to mask his energy, and Goku suddenly materialized in front of him.

"Vegeta!" he said. "Finally!"

The prince narrowed his eyes, his whole body growing more tense at the sight of his rival.

"Kakkarot, why do you insist on tormenting me?" Vegeta demanded, arching into a battle stance.

Goku smirked. "Come on, Vegeta, I didn't come here to fight you, I came here to tell you to--"

He was cut off as Vegeta began throwing kicks at him. Goku blocked each one effortlessly and phased behind Vegeta, capturing the smaller Saiyan in a head lock to keep him in place. "Listen, Vegeta, I don't want to fight. You need to go back to Capsule Corp."

Vegeta writhed in Goku's grasp, growling ferociously. "LET. ME. GO!" he demanded. Goku released him and Vegeta whipped around to meet him head on.

Goku relaxed a little. "Vegeta, I'm not going to fight you, okay? Just come back with me to Capsule Corp--"

"Why on earth would I want to do that, Kakkarot?" Vegeta demanded, scowling, arms crossed.

Goku scratched his head. "Well, gee, I guess one reason would be because I can hear your stomach growling from here…"

"That's because every time I tried to hunt down food, you zeroed in on my energy and almost found me! I don't need the luxury of having my meals cooked for me. I'm perfectly capable of being on my own. And I want you to leave me alone, Kakkarot!"

"Please, Vegeta, come on… do it for Bulma."

"Bulma? What does that woman have to do with anything! She's the last thing that could possibly motivate me to return."

Goku sighed. _He's so darn stubborn! Time for plan B. _

"Listen, Vegeta. If you come back to Capsule Corp with me, I'll show you my Super Saiyan technique."

"I've already seen it, Kakkarot! And blonde isn't exactly a good look for you."

Goku shook his head. "I'm not just going to show you what it looks like. I… I'll try to show you how to become one."

Vegeta froze. "You'll WHAT?"

***

Chapter Three - Lessons in Love, coming soon! Bulma is glad when Vegeta returns, but Yamcha can't say the same… Meanwhile, Goku makes good on his offer to teach Vegeta the ways of the Super Saiyan, but when Goku realizes things between Bulma and Vegeta are still a little shaky, he decides to play cupid and enlists Piccolo's, erm, expertise on all things romantic.

That's it for chapter two! Please R&R! The next chapter should be fun, and a little bit longer… ;) This second chapter was posted so quickly due the encouragement of my reviewers! Thanks guys.


	3. Explosion

-1Disclaimer: You know, I hate writing this in every chapter. I'm a struggling college student. Does it sound like I own DBZ?

***

**Chapter Three - Explosion**

***

Vegeta was in shock. Had his sworn enemy just offered to provide him with the one thing he sought more than anything else? The thing he planned to destroy Goku with, once achieved? He couldn't believe it. His disbelief soon subsided, however, only to be replaced with searing anger.

"What makes you think I need your help, Kakkarot?" His practical side wanted to accept the offer, but his pride simply wouldn't take it.

"Vegeta, don't let your pride cloud your judgment. You know as well as I do how valuable it would be in our fight against the androids if you were a Super Saiyan, too," Goku reasoned.

Vegeta was suspicious, but his pride slowly began backing down. "Ha! Kakkarot, for once you're thinking of yourself! And even more surprisingly, that actually made sense, coming from you. A Saiyan begging for help… I thought I'd never see the day. But I will help you. I'll pick those androids apart, one by one, and then I'll come for _you_."

Beaming, Goku held out his hand. "Great! Okay, so we have a deal? You go back to Capsule Corp, I train you…"

Vegeta slapped Goku's outstretched hand away from him. "I will not shake on it, Kakkarot. I'm a prince, you have my word." He said the last part semi-mockingly as he crossed his arms and turned his back to Goku.

"There is one thing I'm just dying to know. Why are you so hell bent on getting me to return to that damn compound, anyway?"

_Uhh… how can I explain this without saying, "Because you and Bulma are supposed to spawn a purple-haired demi-Saiyan in the next two years…" _Goku thought, scratching his head, thankful Vegeta had his back turned and couldn't see his confused expression as he tried to deliberate on the right answer to give.

He found a suitable response moments later, and said, "Well the G.R. is there. I figure that's your best chance at ascending to Super Saiyan. You really have to push yourself to cross that line, and the gravity room knows how to test your limits…"

Vegeta was satisfied with the response, and put his hand up before Goku could explain further. "Save it for the training. I'll return to the compound immediately. Be seeing you… _Kakkarot_."

Without saying another word, Vegeta blasted off in the direction of Capsule Corporation, looking forward to some real food, but more importantly, looking forward to his inevitable ascension.

***

Bulma was at work in her lab, putting the finishing touches on a couple of service bots Vegeta had broken in half last week when they tried to assist him in toweling off after a shower. She chuckled at the memory. He certainly kept her hands full, breaking everything mechanical in sight and then demanding she fix it instantly, as if she were more skilled and powerful than Kami himself. Sighing, Bulma encapsulated the finished service bots and put them in her lab coat pockets. She looked through her lab window at the gravity chamber, which sat in the middle of the lawn baking beneath the hot summer sun. She watched heat radiate from the water-proof metal alloy Bulma had encased it within the first time Vegeta destroyed it. But that hadn't stopped him from blowing holes through the roof or disabling the power circuitry when he powered up. _Nothing stops that man… _Bulma thought.

She sighed again. _Why do I keep thinking about him? Things aren't that boring without him here… are they?_

Dr. Briefs walked into her lab at that moment. "Hello there, Bulma, having a nice day, are we?" he asked cheerfully. She nodded, half-smiling as he continued, "Your mother and I are having some friends over to play bingo tonight. Would you like to join us?"

_Yep. I'm bored as hell. _"Erm, no thanks Dad, I still have a truckload of work to do in the lab."

"Alright, well, if you change your mind, you know where to find us." He paused. "And by the way, Bulma, before you get too engrossed in your work, you might want to see to Vegea. He's destroying the kitchen and I have no idea where your mother is."

Bulma's eyes widened. "Wait, what? Vegeta?"

She stood up suddenly, startling Dr. Briefs, and literally jogged to the kitchen. The first thing Bulma saw was Vegeta's flame-haired figure raiding the refrigerator, muttering incoherently to himself.

"Vegeta?" she questioned, moving towards him slowly as if she were afraid it wasn't really him. He did not turn to look at her, but replied, "Go away, woman," in his usual dismissive manner. Bulma didn't listen; she walked up beside the prince and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Vegeta," she said again. He looked up at her this time, visibly scandalized by her touch. Bulma drew back in shock; he almost looked rabid.

"Vegeta, if you need me to make you something to eat…" she began, but he cut her off immediately.

"I don't need your help! I thought I made that perfectly clear yesterday."

Bulma placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance. "Oh, you mean yesterday, when you had a huge tantrum in front of everyone? If you don't need my help then can you please explain why you're back, ransacking _my _fridge?"

Growling, Vegeta backed away from the refrigerator, and let out a string of curses. But he bit back his pride in light of his ravenous hunger, and instead of insulting Bulma outright, he simply commanded, "Fine! Make me a sandwich, woman!"

"Would you like me to grab you a beer, too," Bulma grumbled under he breath, but Vegeta caught it.

"Only if you open it for me first," he said, now wearing his trademark smirk.

Ten sandwiches later the thunderous sound of Vegeta's hunger pains subsided and he lay strewn across Bulma's living room couch, enjoying a rare moment of relaxation. Bulma was still reeling from watching Vegeta swallow ten sandwiches whole when she sat down in an easy chair beside the couch.

"You know Vegeta, I didn't think you were coming back," she said matter-of-factly in a feeble attempt to strike up conversation with her prideful housemate. Her eyes appraised his unusually tensionless body. _He must be exhausted_, Bulma thought. Even the scowl that seemed permanently etched into his face had relaxed into a lazy frown.

"Let me assure you," Vegeta began in response to Bulma's statement. "I would not have returned had I found better training grounds else ware on this forsaken planet. As it turns out, the G.R. is the only useful invention your dimwitted brain could have possibly produced."

"Oh, well, you're WELCOME!" Bulma said as a wave of anger surged within her. "I really have no idea why I fixed that stupid machine while you were gone; maybe if I hadn't you wouldn't have come back. Then you'd still be starving in the woods."

Vegeta's eyebrows shot up in genuine surprise. "You fixed the gravity room even though you thought I wouldn't return? Why?"

Bulma stifled her anger as she tried to figure out just how to answer his question. She knew why she had fixed it, but could she really admit she was bored without him? That, despite how angry he made her, she still wanted him around?

_And risk inflating his ego to an uncontainable amount… No way._

"I thought Yamcha or Goku might want to use it. I didn't invent the G.R. solely for your personal use, you know." _That'll strike a chord. Good one, girl! _

The tension returned to Vegeta's body as he stood up and narrowed his eyes at Bulma. "I'm going to go train in _my_ gravity room. If you disturb me, I'll--"

"You'll do what, monkey boy? Kill me? Then who would wait on you hand and foot, huh?"

"Foolish woman! You'd do well to treat me with respect, I am the prince of--"

"ALL SAIYANS, I KNOW. Well, guess what? I'm not a Saiyan! And Goku, your only real subject, can beat you into an instant pulp, so that prince thing doesn't hold any weight on this planet!"

The infuriated look on Vegeta's once Bulma finished her tirade instantly softened her resolve, but she didn't back down. He was so disrespectful! She was the only person who had ever offered him a grain of kindness, and he still treated her like a servant!

Vegeta could practically feel his blood boiling in response to Bulma's blatant insult. The fury he felt swelling deep within his chest had obviously shown through his facial expression, for he watched with inner satisfaction as a flicker of fear flashed behind Bulma's bright cerulean eyes. He began to move stealthily towards her. He smirked as she shrunk back until she was pinned against the wall with Vegeta's arms blocking her on either side, trapping her there. Vegeta brought his mouth within centimeters of Bulma's ear and said, "I could kill you before you gathered enough air to scream, you know that? Do you have a death wish, Bulma?"

She shook her head violently, catching her breath in mild surprise at his use of her name.

Vegeta moved even closer to Bulma now. She felt his Saiyan battle armor press against her chest as he whispered, "Then don't… push me."

Vegeta brought his hand back down to his sides, permitting Bulma's escape. His face was still mere inches from hers, and she took the opportunity to examine his cold, obsidian eyes. There was an unidentifiable emotion dancing within his icy glare, and for a moment Bulma was struck with the absurd idea that Vegeta was going to kiss her. But the strange flicker died out suddenly, and Vegeta turned away from her and headed directly for the gravity chamber.

Bulma didn't move; she was frozen against the wall in a trancelike state, lost in thought, trying to identify the intense emotion she was sure she'd seen. She thought it had been something resembling… desire? But, then again, it could have been bloodlust. There was definitely a thin line there. She shook her head. Countless men, including Yamcha, had given Bulma that look, but never before had she been so taken with its ferocity.

_Oh, what am I thinking? That wasn't desire, that was pure hatred. He hates me! Not as much as I hate him, though._

She told herself she hated him, but she knew that was a lie. She didn't let people she hated live with her. She didn't cook for them. She certainly didn't get up at 3 A.M. for anyone, let alone her enemies. But Vegeta was an exception. Even when he'd been threatening her, even when he had her pressed against the wall in her own home, she hadn't been truly afraid. She was intimidated, sure, but not afraid. She knew he would never kill her, simply because he had so many opportunities in the past to do so. He argued that he kept her around to fix the gravity chamber, and although that may be true now, Bulma had to question why he hadn't killed her on Namek. It just didn't make any sense. That look in his eyes didn't make any sense.

***

It had been a week since Goku convinced Vegeta to return to Capsule Corp, and he was training harder than ever, patiently awaiting his upcoming Super Saiyan training lessons with Goku.

The computer inside the G.R. displayed a gravity reading of 300 times Earth's normal gravity. Vegeta was locked in a struggle to stay upright as Bulma's battle simulator droids floated in the air above him. The entire room seemed to glow red as one of droids sent a powerful blast in Vegeta's direction, catching the struggling Saiyan off guard and nearly knocking him out completely. But Vegeta refused to give up. Shaking uncontrollably, he forced his body upright once again.

_I can do this. I'm a Saiyan. I'm the most powerful warrior in the universe!_

He powered up considerably, and his sudden energy increase smashed the battle droids against the walls of the gravity room. But the droids were programmed to act defensively against any offensive attack, and much to Vegeta's dismay, one of the droids released yet another powerful blast. Vegeta headed off the blast with an equally powerful one of his own. When the balls of energy collided, Vegeta's face drained of color as he realized exactly what was going to happen next…

***

Bulma was sitting in her living room flipping through one of her father's science magazines. She paused at a picture of an older scientist with long, sweeping gray hair. The text underneath the picture read DR. GERO. _What a creep_, she thought. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. She drew a deep breath, already guessing who it could be. She opened the door to Yamcha smiling pleasantly down at her. She gave him a hug and a half-hearted kiss on the cheek as he launched into a detailed outline of his new training routine. She listened to him with practiced patience. Bulma didn't really care about his training regiments--she was no fighter, after all--but her years with Yamcha had taught her to be more tolerant of the male ego. _His_ ego, anyway; Vegeta's drove her up the wall.

"Bulma, did you hear me? I asked who made this mess," Yamcha said, snapping Bulma out of her daydreams. She perked up and examined the cluttered kitchen. Vegeta always left it in ruins. She didn't know why he bothered raiding the fridge when she was perfectly willing to fix him something to eat.

"Damnit Vegeta…" she said aloud.

Yamcha shook his head. "I can't believe you let him back in this house, Bulma! That guy is a psychopath!"

"Everyone deserves a little kindness, Yamcha! Look at Piccolo, he's practically one of us now, that wouldn't have happened without Goku's forgiveness, now would it?"

_Wait… since when am I defensive of Vegeta? _Bulma thought.

"Yeah, well, at least Piccolo knows know to clean up after himself. I've been watching Vegeta train all week. That guy doesn't back down. He thinks he's so tough training in 300 times Earth's gravity… it can't be that hard."

Bulma rolled her eyes. "Everything's a competition with you men! Honestly, I won't be surprised if one day your egos inflate so much they just… EXPLODE."

As soon as the words left Bulma's house, she and Yamcha were both knocked to their feet by an enormous explosion that nearly rocked Capsule Corporation off its foundation. It reminded Bulma of a sonic boom, the kind a spaceship makes when it leaves Earth, and for a split second she thought that perhaps Vegeta had taken off in the G.R. once again.

"What was that?" Yamcha cried. The compound was still shaking, and Bulma sat up, dazed, a soft ringing noise proliferating her ear drums.

"Maybe the androids are here…" Yamcha said, panicked. Bulma knew better. "No, it must have been the gravity room, we better go check it out," she said.

Bulma looked through the kitchen window and gasped in horror at what she saw. Vegeta definitely hadn't left the planet--he'd blown up the entire G.R! It lay in ruins in the patch of grace where it once stood. She immediately ran from the house in the direction of the wreckage, Yamcha following close behind.

"Vegeta!" Bulma called.

"I knew this would happen! He's been trying to do the impossible!" Yamcha said as he and Bulma came to a stop amidst the giant pile of rubble that was once the gravity room.

"Where is he? Vegeta?" Bulma began digging through scraps of metal, her eyebrows knitted together in worry. Vegeta was nowhere to be seen, so she assumed he was buried beneath the wreckage. _That big lug better not be hurt… _

A hand smashed suddenly through the rubble, startling Bulma so much so she screamed and backed up until she was standing back beside Yamcha. Vegeta slowly freed himself from his metal prison, grunting and gritting his teeth in obvious pain. He looked very bad; Bulma gasped at how many cuts, burns, and bruises the explosion had dealt him. She couldn't believe he was still living.

"Are you… okay?" she asked him, reaching her arms out as if she intended to carry him out of the shambled remains of the G.R. by herself.

"Of course I am!" Vegeta shot back unconvincingly.

Bulma felt a familiar annoyance blaze inside her. "How dare you, Vegeta! You almost wrecked my house, what are you trying to prove?"

Vegeta was finally standing up, though he was fighting the urge to hunch over. He straightened himself out and began to laugh at Bulma, but before she could chew his ear off any further, his eyes rolled back in his head and his legs gave out.

"Oh no! You're hurt!" Bulma launched forward and sat down beside the Saiyan prince, cradling his head in her lap.

"No, I don't need help. I've got training to do."

_Oh, Vegeta! Will you ever let up your pride? _Bulma thought angrily. "You've got to stop training for a while! I mean look at you, you're a complete wreck!"

"But I feel fine. I'm a Saiyan! I can take a little pain, it means nothing to me! And I have to get stronger than Kakkarot!"

"Okay, sure, we all know you're a tough guy, but you need to rest now." _Does he ever quit? My gosh…_

"I take orders from no one!" Vegeta yelled furiously, pushing Bulma away and making another pitiful attempt to get up. His whole body failed him this time, and he finally lost consciousness.

"Oh no…" Bulma said, turning to her boyfriend. "Hey Yamcha, don't just stand there, help me get him inside!"

***

Vegeta didn't know how much time had passed since the gravity chamber exploded. Everything had warped into a blur since the moment his blast had collided with the battle droid's; after that, all he remembered was searing pain. When he opened his eyes, he had to blink several times before focusing on the figure beside him. It was Bulma, fast asleep on the desk beside his bed, her breathing steady and even.

_What is she doing here? _Vegeta thought. _She couldn't have fallen asleep here on purpose, why would she? Was she… was she watching over me?_

He didn't understand her. Her actions contrasted dramatically with her words. He was constantly bickering with her, attempting to reign some once of respect from the feeble woman, but she never backed down. More than once she claimed to hate him. And now she was watching over him like a child? Vegeta was deeply disturbed by the swell of emotion that accompanied that last thought. It was so foreign to him, this feeling of being cared for. He wasn't used to it. He had frightened his subjects and lesser beings into respecting him, but never once--not since his father died--had he felt that anybody cared for him beyond getting on his good side. Bulma was never on his good side, yet she showed him more kindness than he deserved.

Vegeta thought back to the afternoon a week before when he threatened Bulma's life. He had been angry--outrageously so---but had no intention of actually following through on that anger and killing her. He just wanted to scare her a little. When he realized she was more alarmed than frightened, he felt the most peculiar sensation of desire overwhelm him. Desire for this disrespectful, flippant, contemptuous excuse for a woman. He didn't know what to make of it at first, or whether to act on it. As soon as she began searching his eyes, however, he masked the emotion--tucked it away deep inside a black hole in his head, where he hid all unfamiliar and uninvited emotions, out of reach and out of mind. He felt the same desirous emotion swarm over him again as he watched her sleeping form. She had always been an attractive woman. She was so different from the females on Planet Vegeta, and yet, that fire that ignited her anger and fed her determination reminded him of the few Saiyan women he'd encountered when he was a young boy on his planet.

Bulma stirred suddenly, and Vegeta snapped out of his thoughts as she slowly opened her eyes. She rubbed the sleep from them and stretched out like a feline, yawning dramatically. She noticed Vegeta soon after.

"Oh, Vegeta! You're awake! That's good. How do you feel?"

"Good as new. Now, stand aside. I've already wasted too much time. I need… to train," Vegeta said, propping himself up on his elbows. The sudden movement made his body shudder in protest, and a fresh wave of pain crawled through him. That simple maneuver seemed to drain his entire body of energy.

"I don't think so, Vegeta, you can't even get up by yourself! There's no way I'm letting you train. Plus, you completely destroyed the gravity room! There's nothing left to train in."

Vegeta growled, though it sounded more like a feeble grunt. "Damnit, woman. When I recover, there better be a new gravity room in place…"

"Don't worry, Vegeta, I have one encapsulated inside my lab somewhere. I'll search for it later. Now go back to sleep."

Vegeta seemed to finally give in. With his eyelids half closed from exhaustion, he asked, "Woman… why are you doing this?"

Bulma was puzzled. "Doing what? You did this to yourself, buddy boy."

"No, I mean… why do you care what happens to me? I threaten your life on a daily basis and still you…"

Bulma shushed him. "Don't talk, Vegeta, you're still way too beaten up. It's sucking away the little energy you have."

"Just… answer me." His breathing was becoming labored as he struggled to find a voice for his words.

Bulma chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. "I guess… I guess I…" _No, don't say you feel sorry for him. He'll die of shame on the spot._

"You what?" He was growing impatient with her delayed responses.

She sighed. "I guess I understand you better than you think. I only ever saw Frieza from far away, but he just radiated evil, you know? I can't sense these things, but it was so weird, I always felt so… cold when Frieza was near. The entire time I was on Namek, the environment had such a sinister feel to it. And when I think about how Frieza made me feel, and consider the fact that you grew up with that monster… If I were you, I'd probably act the same way. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, I know you're a total ass, and you show absolutely no appreciation for anything I do, but I figure that showing your thanks translates as a weakness to you. Just because you don't show it… doesn't mean you don't feel it."

Vegeta's eyes widened at Bulma's confession. He didn't look angry or insulted, much to Bulma's relief, so she continued.

"I never got an evil vibe from you, though. When you threatened me and Krillin on Namek, I was scared, but it wasn't the same horror I felt in the pit of my stomach when I thought about Frieza. You inherited a lot of… distasteful traits from your life with Frieza, but his evilness definitely wasn't one of them."

Bulma examined the expression on Vegeta's face with wonder when she finished her piece. A weak scowl graced his features, but his eyes were filled with… gratitude? Was he actually grateful for her help? For what she said? Bulma couldn't believe it. Moments later, his energy gave out completely and he slipped slowly into unconsciousness.

"You're welcome," Bulma said, and his scowl seemed to soften slightly as if he'd heard her in his slumber.

***

The following night, Vegeta was still recovering from the explosion and Bulma was getting ready for a date with Yamcha. She chose a tight-fitting navy blue mini dress from her closet and matched it with a pair of white sandals. She pulled her hair into a neat ponytail, praising her reflection silently. She checked out her new hairdo and thanked herself inwardly for getting rid of that ridiculous perm.

Bulma checked herself out in the mirror one last time and noted how casual she looked. She used to go all out when Yamcha took her on a date, fussing over what to wear and how to style her hair and whether or not her eyeliner was smudging.

She sighed. These dates were starting to feel so repetitive and… boring. Her heart just wasn't in it anymore. She kept that thought at the forefront of her mind throughout dinner and the movie that followed. Yamcha didn't seem to notice (he'd never been very intuitive). He talked about himself for half the night, and the other half was spent either mulling over strategies for defeating the androids or in complete awkward silence. Finally, Yamcha and Bulma found themselves back in front of Capsule Corporation. Yamcha killed the his car's engine and leaned over to steal a kiss from Bulma, which she returned without enthusiasm. Yamcha pulled back and stared into her eyes with curiosity.

"Something wrong, babe?" he asked.

Bulma shook her head. "Nothing's wrong, it's just that… oh, never mind." _Since when did I think Yamcha was so dull?_

"Bulma, you haven't said a word all night! You never let me talk about myself for that long without interrupting me, come on, I know something's up."

"I don't know, Yamcha, lately I've been feeling like… like we've hit a plateau, you know what I mean? I just don't see our relationship going much further."

Yamcha didn't look surprised. In fact, he was relieved. "Oh, man, I feel the same way. I had no idea you were feeling like this, Bulma, you should have told me."

Bulma nodded. "I know. It's just that, with the android threat constantly over our heads…"

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I didn't want to give you any reason to be even more upset by breaking up with you."

Bulma smiled appreciatively. This was going better than she thought. Yamcha was more inquisitive than she'd given him credit for. Suddenly, a cheerful voice interrupted their conversation.

"Hey guys!"

"It's Goku!" Yamcha exclaimed.

Their long-time friend was standing just outside of Yamcha's car, peering in at them with curiosity. "Did you guys just break up? That's GREAT!"

Bulma and Yamcha promptly sweatdropped.

****

A/N: Wow, that was a long chapter. As you can tell, this chapter wasn't the one I promised at the end of the last chapter. I'm going to stop doing those little previews, I'll probably change my mind a lot during the creative process of writing this fic. I decided to drag the story out a little longer than I originally planned… this is probably going to be my only B/V-centric fanfic, and I want to throw all I have at it. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed it so far. I'm open to suggestions, criticism, anything really… just let me know how I'm doing. Am I keeping them in character? Am I rushing anything? Come on, people, feedback = better story. And yeah, I took the explosion scene directly out of the show. Not for lack of creativity, just because I want to literally make it seem like this story can be inserted directly within those three years. Anyway, until next week… ;P (This is the last time I write a disgustingly long author's note.)


	4. Lessons

-1Disclaimer: If I owned DBZ… hmm… the possibilities.

***

**Chapter Four - Lessons**

***

"Hey guys!"

"It's Goku!" Yamcha exclaimed.

Their long-time friend was standing just outside of Yamcha's car, peering in at them with curiosity. "Did you guys just break up? That's GREAT!"

Bulma and Yamcha promptly sweatdropped.

"Goku, do you even know the meaning of tact?" Bulma asked him, exasperated but not annoyed in the slightest. Goku shrugged. "What is tact again?"

Bulma just shook her head and chuckled as she let herself out of Yamcha's car. "We'll talk later," she told him. Yamcha nodded and drove off, waving to her and Goku until he was out of sight.

Turning to Goku, Bulma asked, "Not that I'm not pleasantly surprised to see you here, but… why are you here? It's midnight."

He smiled brightly. "Actually I came looking for Vegeta. I'm supposed to train with him but I couldn't get away from Chi-Chi until now."

Bulma bit her bottom lip. "Sorry, Goku, but I don't think that's going to happen. Vegeta had a little accident. He's not going to be out of bed for at least another we--"

"Don't count on it."

With a sharp intake of breath, Bulma turned in the direction of the raspy voice that cut her off. "Vegeta?" she said disbelievingly. It _was_ Vegeta, propped up against the wall with his arms crossed, and he looked good as new. His cuts had all but healed, his bruises had faded into light yellow tinges, and his entire body was effortlessly upright. He wasn't even hunching. Or spitting blood. _How is this possible? He looked like a train ran over him yesterday…_

Goku read her disbelief. "Saiyans heal pretty fast, Bulma, don't you remember?"

She nodded slowly, still unsure about Vegeta's sudden recovery. "Yeah but… you didn't see him, Goku, he was completely mangled."

Vegeta huffed. "You're exaggerating. I'm perfectly fine!" He walked steadily forward just to prove it. His display was enough for Bulma, who, without realizing what she was doing, launched herself towards him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a tight embrace.

"I'm so glad you're okay, I thought there might be permanent damage!" She spoke maddeningly fast.

Goku cringed at the look on Vegeta's face. It was a mix of surprise and disgust. Nowhere in his expression was a sign that told Goku that Vegeta planned to hug back. His actions following Bulma's embrace qualified this suspicion.

"Get your filthy hands off me, woman!" Vegeta commanded, squeezing expertly out of Bulma's grip without touching her. "I can't believe you have the audacity to… it's bad enough I'm training with this third-class lunatic, now I have to put up with disgusting displays of affection from a lowly earth woman?" He let out a cry of revulsion and ran a hand through his spiked hair as he turned away from both her and Goku.

Bulma was taken aback and slightly hurt by Vegeta's cold words, but her surprise soon dissolved into fervent anger as she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the Saiyan prince's back.

"Are you bipolar or something? One second you're acting half-way decent and the next you're back to your old self. I'm tired of your mood swings, Vegeta, just grow up already!" Shooting Goku an apologetic look, Bulma disappeared inside Capsule Corp without another word, leaving the last two full blooded Saiyans in the universe alone together.

Goku cleared his throat. "So… nice day, huh?"

Vegeta growled. "It's the middle of the night, Kakkarot, you idiot!"

Laughing, Goku replied, "I know that! Hey listen, don't get all uptight when I say this, but maybe you should be nicer to Bulma. She's letting you stay here for free, that's a pretty good deal if you ask me."

"Well I didn't ask you, did I? And I'm not here by choice, let me assure you. I want nothing more than to be rid of that foul woman."

Sighing deeply, Goku thought, _I hope what I said at the party didn't make Vegeta permanently opposed to the idea of being with Bulma. He's acting like he hates her! Then again, maybe it's just a front… _

"KAKKAROT? ARE YOU LISTENING?"

Goku had tuned Vegeta out to think, but was now giving him his full attention. "I hope you're done daydreaming! Now, follow me. I don't want any of your pathetic friends knowing about these… _lessons_!" Vegeta spat the last word out with utmost content. He did not want to do this, but he was growing increasingly impatient. He wanted to ascend and train as a Super Saiyan until he became stronger than his rival, and he couldn't do that without achieving his ultimate goal first. Taking advice from the only Super Saiyan he ever met was the only practical way to go, despite how much it damaged his pride.

Goku followed Vegeta obediently, almost merrily, as the older Saiyan led him to a clearing in the forestry surrounding West City, the same place Vegeta had stayed when he left Capsule Corp earlier that month.

Vegeta touched down at one end of the clearing while Goku landed on the opposite end. The two Saiyans stared each other down for a few moments before Goku smirked and said, "So, you wanna know how to do this?" He transformed instantly, effortlessly, which only angered Vegeta more as he watched his rival become engulfed in light.

Goku's energy wrapped itself in golden flames around his body, his hair flashing blonde, his confident teal eyes shining, his entire body gleaming with power. He lit up the clearing as if it were day.

Vegeta watched Goku's golden aura wrap around his body in tendrils that seemed to lick mockingly at Vegeta's feet, despite the distance between the two. He sneered as Goku powered down.

"Well, that's how you do it!" Goku exclaimed, the confident smirk on his face now replaced by a goofy grin.

"Very funny, Kakkarot. Now tell me how you did it, I already know what it looks like!" Despite his pride, Vegeta was very eager to hear how the younger Saiyan had accomplished the legendary transformation.

Goku's eyebrows were knitted together in thought momentarily before he replied, "Well, at the time, I transformed because I needed to. That's the simplest way I can explain it."

"I _need_ to beat you into a pulp. Isn't that enough?" Vegeta asked as the corners of his mouth pulled into a grisly smirk.

Goku shrugged. "When I transformed, all I could think about was avenging the deaths of my friends and the people of Namek. I needed that transformation, I needed it to defeat Frieza. Vegeta, you need something to fight for, and no, beating me isn't enough."

"Something to fight for? Stop preaching to me Kakkarot!" Vegeta was practically snarling now, driven to madness from Goku's hard-hitting confession. Vegeta couldn't believe what he was hearing… something to fight for? What did that mean?

"Of course, I'm sure there are other ways to reach the ascension, that's just how I did it!" Goku piped up as he watched Vegeta's face contort with rage. But for once, the Saiyan prince didn't let his anger consume him. Rather, he took a deep, sobering breath, closed his eyes, and willed himself to calm down. Once his temper stopped flaring, he opened his eyes and fixed Goku with his cold gaze.

"Transform again. I will spar with you at your best," he said calmly, evenly.

Goku complied with Vegeta's request, and the two Saiyans were locked in a heated training session far into the early morning hours. Their gold and blue auras lit up the skies like fireworks.

***

Bulma lifted one lazy eyelid to meet the sunlight peaking through her window blinds. She shifted her head slightly and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes so she could read the time on her alarm clock--9:43 A.M. _I haven't slept in that long for a while… _she thought.

She kicked the sheets off her body with newfound energy and shuffled out of bed. She was eager to get some work done in the lab now that Vegeta was well and had a training partner in Goku. As she stood under the shower spray her thoughts lingered on them both. _Since when does Vegeta train with Goku? _she wondered. She thought him much too proud to accept help from anyone, especially Goku, although he grudgingly accepted her help on a day-to-day basis out of pure necessity.

Bulma made a mental note to ask Goku how he'd convinced Vegeta to train with him and pushed the thought out of her mind for the time being. She toweled off and put on a pair of comfortable whitewashed jeans and a black tank top underneath her lab coat. She ran her fingers through her hair and decided to let it air dry for once--it needed a vacation from the hairsprays and blow dryers she subjected it to daily. As she made her way downstairs she passed by her mother, who looked absolutely ecstatic about something. _Probably saw Vegeta without a shirt on_, Bulma thought as a grin tugged at the corners of her mouth. Bunny harbored a harmless crush on the Saiyan prince, and it never failed to amuse and slightly disgust Bulma. _Not that I blame her… _Bulma finished her thought and paused. _Did I just think that? Shut-up, Bulma! _She slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand as her mother ran up to her.

"Oh, Bulma! You can't work in the lab right now, we have company! I'm making a big breakfast!" Bunny ran, no, skipped back into the kitchen and Bulma followed curiously.

Her jaw hung slack as she took in the sight before her; Vegeta and Goku were eating her out of house and home, as usual. Next to Goku stood a pile of plates layered so high it must have been twice his height. _You think I'd be used to this by now… _she thought.

She took a seat next to Goku and gladly accepted meager portions from her mother. She usually skipped breakfast.

Bulma waited until Goku took a break from stuffing his mouth to ask, "I can't believe you're still here! Did you guys sleep at all?"

Goku shook his head. "Nope, we finished one hour ago and your mother was kind enough to fix us breakfast! Isn't she great, Vegeta?" Goku said, turning to the Saiyan prince, who just grumbled incoherently and proceeded to eat an entire bowl of hash browns.

"I'm so glad you boys have joined us for breakfast!" said Bunny. "It's not every day I have a reason to go all out like this!"

Bulma rolled her eyes. "Mom, you go all out for everything…"

Dr. Briefs wandered into the kitchen at that moment, took in the sight before him, and, turning on his heels, promptly turned back around, complaining aloud to Kitty about the insatiability of Saiyan appetites.

"Oh, don't mind him!" said Bunny. "He's just mad I don't cook like this when he brings over his boring work friends! Oh, Bulma, your friends are so much fun!"

Vegeta scoffed at being called one of Bulma's friends, and she glared at him but otherwise ignored it. Once they had finished eating everything Bunny could throw at them, Vegeta disappeared into his room--no doubt to sleep--and Goku hung back to chat with Bulma.

"Aren't you tired?" she asked him, cringing inwardly as she remembered the way she reacted to all-nighters. Goku smiled. "Sure! But I'm so pumped for this fight, I just want the androids to get here already!"

"Well, we've still got… two years, eleven months to go, Goku," Bulma said, giggling at her friend's childish impatience. He looked sheepish.

"I better go," he said at last. "I'll be back tonight to train some more with Vegeta. Thanks for the food, Bunny!" Giving Bulma a quick hug, he winked at her, put his fingers to his forehead and disappeared.

"Oh, my goodness! Where did he go?" Bunny asked, looking around the room in wonder.

"Don't ask, Mom," Bulma said. She activated a service bot to help her mom clean up the kitchen and proceeded to her lab.

***

It was nearly six in the afternoon when Vegeta woke up, and he still didn't feel rested enough.

_Damnit, Kakkarot_, he cursed inwardly, reflecting upon the night's previous sparring battle. He hated to admit it, but a Super Saiyan was everything the legend foretold and more. It didn't matter what Vegeta threw at him, Goku matched him and overpowered him at every turn. No wonder Frieza had been so terrified of the Saiyan race! And Vegeta was sure Goku was shielding most of his power during their match, perhaps worried it would humiliate him if he knew its true extent. Vegeta cursed his rival for being so soft and rolled over in bed facing the window, from which he could see the fading sunlight. He knew Goku would be back for another training session soon, which gave him little time to warm up in the gravity room.

With a start, Vegeta suddenly remembered the ruined G.R. He also remembered that Bulma mentioned a backup G.R. encapsulated in her lab. _It's time to pay the woman a little visit_,he thought as he pulled on his training shorts.

***

Bulma gave up on lab work around five o'clock and began exercising on a treadmill she designed herself. Unlike most treadmills, her design gave a highly accurate estimation of calories burned--it was touch sensitive, so it could tell how fast she was running, her pace, how much pressure she was putting into each heel as she stepped down, etc. She had created an entire home gym for herself years before, and it was for this reason she was able to maintain the body of an 18-year-old even as she rounded her late twenties.

She was running about 6.5 mph on a 4.0 incline. Sweat trickled down her temples and lingered at the edge of her chin before dripping onto the treadmill control panel, but she could not be deterred. She usually mixed cardio with weights, but today she just felt like running--running off the frustration of living with a haughty prince. She cursed Vegeta inwardly at the thought of him. She was still angry about the way he'd treated her in front of Goku the night before. She worried that perhaps she pushed him away with her bedside confession during his recovery. _Too late to regret that now, girl, he's just going to have to live with it. _

So engrossed in her thoughts was she that she slowed down to a jog while the treadmill was still programmed to go 6.5 mph. Needless to say, the belt did not slow down with her, and before Bulma knew was what happening her feet gave out beneath her by the force of the belt's speed.

"SHIT!" she screamed. Everything happened so fast--one second she was bracing herself for an impending face plant and the next she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist. She looked down at her feet, which were suspended a few inches above the ground. The person who caught her was carrying her from behind, flying, and for a moment she thought it might be Yamcha. _Nah, Yamcha's arms are puny compared to these_, she thought. She turned her head around to see Vegeta staring down at her with one eyebrow raised skeptically.

"Oh, thank you! You caught _me_ this time!" Bulma exclaimed. Vegeta kept his hands around her waist for an awkwardly inappropriate amount of time as he assessed the situation before asking, "What were you doing, woman?" He looked genuinely puzzled as he put her down.

"I was… working out," she explained. Vegeta gave her a blank stare. "On the treadmill." The blank stare continued. "You know, running." Blank. "Training!"

Finally Vegeta understood, and he examined Bulma's treadmill, which had turned itself off due to inactivity. Suddenly, he broke into laughter. "You use that inferior contraption to train?" He pointed at it in disbelief.

Bulma growled in a very Vegeta-esque way. "You ass! I'm not a Saiyan, okay, I'm sorry I don't work out in three million times gravity and I don't have super speed!"

Still chuckling, Vegeta said, "Yes, I know. You're a weakling. At least you admit it."

Bulma walked right up to him and, poking his chest, said, "Let's see how fast you can run." She set up the treadmill to go its maximum speed--12 mph--and "humphed" as she watched Vegeta climb onto the treadmill and activate it. The belt was going 12 mph, but Vegeta still appeared to be walking. Bulma wasn't entirely surprised--he could probably run just as fast as he could fly.

"Alright, you made your point, get off my treadmill before you break it like you do all my inventions," she said. He complied quickly, stepped off the treadmill, and turned to her. "Speaking of your infernal inventions. I need a new gravity room immediately," he said.

She nodded and began sifting through a drawer filled with various capsules. When she finally found the one she was looking for, she pocketed it and walked out of her lab with Vegeta in close pursuit. Bulma led him to the area where the old G.R. once stood. Service bots had cleared the destruction since the explosion, but it left behind a round patch of burned grass her mother had nearly fainted after seeing. Bulma decided to put the new G.R. in the same place to cover the mutilated grass.

Vegeta stepped back as Bulma released the new G.R. from its capsule. After the smoke cleared, a perfectly new gravity chamber that looked almost identical to the old one stood glimmering in the fading sunlight.

"There, you happy now?" Bulma asked him as she turned in the direction of her lab. Vegeta grabbed her shoulder. "Not so fast, woman. You got to test my skill on that training contraption of yours. I want to see how you fare in the gravity room."

Bulma froze. "What do you mean? I-I can't work out in 300gs!"

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Stupid woman. Follow me."

Although she wasn't entirely sure what Vegeta was up to, she didn't think it involved lasting bodily harm or being squashed to death, so she entered the gravity room behind him and watched as he programmed it to 10gs.

"This shouldn't be too hard for a weakling like you," he assessed, smirking as she visibly stiffened with anger at his comment.

"You're such an arrogant jerk!" she cried as she removed her lab coat. Suddenly, the gravity room began glowing red and she felt an enormous weight crushing down on her.

"Oh crap!" She fell to her knees immediately under the weight as her body tried to get used to the increased gravity.

Vegeta gave her a sideways glance. "That's a good look for you, woman."

Struggling to her feet, Bulma asked, "What… is?"

"You, on your knees. I could get used to it."

His blatantly sexist comment sent a new wave of ire through Bulma's body and she was able to channel her distemper into helping her stay upright.

"You're disgusting! That is definitely one thing I will never do for you, Vegeta," she said.

"What are you talking about, woman? You being on your knees is a sign of respect. A _bow_. Did you really think I meant…" He snorted when he realized how she'd misinterpreted his insult. "Of all the things to suggest! I would never request--"

"Hey! I'll have you know I'm very good at… WAIT, WHAT AM I SAYING! Ugh, Vegeta, you're impossible!"

Bulma's body was getting used to the intense gravity thanks to her frustration with Vegeta. Little did she know he was working her up on purpose; he wanted to see how strong she truly was.

_So much like a Saiyan woman_, he thought, referring to the correlation between her stamina and her anger.

"Ready to take it to the next level?" he asked. Bulma shook her head--she was having enough trouble moving as it was--but Vegeta paid no heed to her wishes.

"Try to hit me," he said. It wasn't a request; it was a challenge.

Bulma scoffed. "Are you kidding me?" The look on Vegeta's face told her he was completely serious.

Shaking her head, Bulma began moving towards him, dragging her feet along the floor, but to avail; every inch she moved towards him, he moved another inch back.

"Vegeta!" she cried, exasperated. "This is not going to happen! I give up!" She collapsed in a heap on the G.R. floor, giving in to the gravity's force. Vegeta simply rolled his eyes.

"Of course you give up! You're just like every other human on this planet. Pitiful, weak, cowardly. I've never seen that scarred mate of yours rise to a challenge unless he was one hundred percent sure of his opponent's inferiority. That is not the way a true warrior picks his battles!" Vegeta shook his head. "Kakkarot should have destroyed this planet when he had the chance."

He turned his back to Bulma and continued. "And you, woman, you're the worst of them all! You act as if your intelligence is worth anything! When you're as weak as you are--you've made that very clear today--nothing can save you."

As Vegeta finished his rant, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He turned, smirking, knowing his attempt to piss Bulma off had given her the strength to reach him. The smirk left his face, however, once he realized that Bulma's other hand was clenched into a round fist. It was mostly surprise that kept him from evading her punch as she hit him square in the face.

***

Through one of the gravity chamber windows, Goku watched disdainfully as Bulma's fist connected with Vegeta's cheekbone. _Darn it! Things between them must be pretty bad for Bulma to take a swing at Vegeta like that! This is all my fault!_

Goku turned away from the window and sat down cross-legged outside the gravity room with his head in his hands, waiting for Vegeta or Bulma to emerge, mulling over possible ways to promote a friendship between the two.

Maybe if he hadn't turned away at that moment, he would have realized what was truly going on inside the gravity room. But as usual, Goku remained naïve.

Inside the gravity room, Vegeta was staring wide-eyed into Bulma's triumphant face. "HA!" she cried. "I HIT YOU!" She stuck her tongue out at him and crossed her arms.

Vegeta shook off his surprise and replaced his bewildered expression with his trademark smirk.

"Do you honestly feel proud of that accomplishment? A true warrior--"

"I'm not a true warrior Vegeta! You told me to hit you and I did, I won, I'm the best, there's nothing you can say to change that, so there!" Bulma was absolutely giddy with her accomplishment. Just to spite her, Vegeta changed the gravitational force to 20gs and watched with satisfaction as she collapsed under the pressure.

"Hey!" she screamed. "You jerk! Turn the gravity off right now!"

He did as she asked, but only after he'd gotten his fill of watching her writhe helplessly against the white tiled floor.

Bulma picked herself off the ground once normal gravity had been restored and marched up to Vegeta. "You're an asshole, you know that?"

He simply nodded.

"UGH!" Bulma threw her hands up in the air. "I don't get you, Vegeta! You're so… ugh!"

Vegeta cocked an eyebrow. "And here I thought nothing could ruin your shining moment. You know I didn't even feel that pitiful excuse for a punch, right?"

"Yes, I know that. The goal wasn't to hurt you… though I'm sure there is one place I could have, _should have_, aimed that would have hurt." She flicked her gaze down to his groin and back to his face so he knew what she meant.

With lightening fast reflexes, Vegeta suddenly grabbed Bulma's wrists and brought her closer to him, until only a few inches separated their bodies. Bulma was instantly reminded of the way he'd pinned her against the wall days before, only this time his eyes were cold, guarded against her searching gaze. "Are you threatening me, woman?" he asked. His voice was like ice.

Bulma scowled. "Vegeta, this isn't going to work on me. You're not going to kill me. I know you won't."

The Saiyan prince looked at her suspiciously and brought her even closer. Now her body was nearly entirely pressed against his; he held both her wrists gently but firmly, and his piercing eyes drilled into hers. "What makes you think that?" he said.

"I-I just do." Bulma faltered slightly; she wasn't afraid or intimidated, but there was a strange, familiar warmth fluttering up her spine that seemed to originate from her stomach. The feeling of being so close to Vegeta was having this effect on her. She shuddered.

Vegeta knew she wasn't scared, nor was it his intention to frighten her. He knew by now he couldn't scare her. He couldn't kill her. He didn't want to. He couldn't bear the thought of killing such a rare find. In Vegeta's mind, Bulma proved she had more will and determination than half of her pitiful friends, though she had no physical strength to boast. She was the first person he'd met--let alone the first woman--who dared to stand up to him. She was like his equal. A perfect match.

When Vegeta realized this, he was suddenly overcome by a desire to be as near to Bulma as possible. He allowed himself the luxury of giving in to that desire, and he held her against him for what seemed like an eternity, as if they were frozen, suspended in time. Gazing into her endlessly azure eyes made him suppress a shiver.

Bulma was still searching his eyes, looking for any clue to what Vegeta might be feeling at that moment. Again, she was struck by the absurd idea that he was going to lean down and kiss her, but he didn't move. Bulma grew impatient, though she remained as motionless as well. _This is getting ridiculous_, she thought. _If he's not going to make a move, I will. Now if only I knew what move to make._

Bulma's eyes lingered momentarily on his before she moved her gaze downwards and settled on his lips. His mouth was only centimeters above hers. All Bulma needed to do was stand on her toes, and, maybe, he would kiss her back. As much as she wanted to stay in this compromising position, pressed against his hard muscles and chiseled abs, she had work to do, and what better way to break the ice? Slowly, cautiously, she lifted herself upon her toes. Vegeta's eyes darted down to her feet and back to her face as he tried to comprehend her intentions. He realized what was happening just as she closed the gap between their lips, and he caught his breath and she tilted her head sideways and…

"Vegeta? Bulma? HELLO?"

Goku's voice rang out and bounced off the gravity room walls as he entered the G.R. Vegeta and Bulma broke apart instantly, so fast in fact that when Goku poked his head inside, he saw them standing on opposite sides of the room, backs turned to each other, arms crossed. He sighed. _Doesn't look like they're any closer to being friends, let alone lovers…_

He missed everything that transpired after Bulma punched Vegeta.

"Goku, what are you doing here?"

Bulma spoke first. She turned to him, arms still crossed, and she looked pissed.

"Uhh… I'm here to train…" He was taken aback by her anger, but attributed its source unknowingly to Vegeta, who didn't say anything upon Goku's entrance.

If either Bulma or Goku could have seen Vegeta, they might have noticed a pink tinge permeating his cheeks. He was certain his rival had seen him with Bulma, and was both mortified and angry with himself.

His stomach rumbled, and he had an idea--a way to distract Goku from the situation at hand and reinforce his superiority. He turned immediately to Bulma, pointed at her, and said, "Servant woman, I need food! Now!"

Bulma's jaw dropped. "Ex-excuse me?"

"You heard me. It's the least you could do after interrupting my training."

"Interrupting your..! But you… but I… the treadmill! And you… the gravity… ugh!" Bulma could barely speak through her frustration.

Goku's eyes darted from her to Vegeta as he tried to comprehend the situation. "Did you say treadmill?" he asked Bulma. She shot him a death glare and he backed away slightly. The searing look she sent Vegeta was a thousand times more intimidating, but the prince remained stoic.

"THAT'S IT, VEGETA!" Bulma screamed suddenly once she regained the ability to form sentences. The pitch of her voice made Goku jump and Vegeta flinch. "DO NOT TALK TO ME. AND MAKE YOUR OWN GODDAMNED DINNER!"

She stormed out of the gravity room and stomped all the way to Capsule Corp, slamming the back door behind her so loudly it made Goku jump again.

***

Piccolo was in trouble. Never before had he been so scared, so _terrified_. Standing just two feet in front of him was the most unholy creature he had laid eyes upon. Worse than Frieza or his henchman… worse than anything he'd ever seen… it was… Chi-Chi.

"YOU TELL ME WHERE MY GOKU IS RIGHT NOW!"

Her voice nearly decimated Piccolo's super sensitive Namek hearing. A large sweatdrop appeared over his forehead. "I don't know where he is. I was training with Gohan when he left last night."

Chi-Chi's left eye twitched. She spoke very quietly. "You were training with Gohan past his bed time?"

Piccolo ground his teeth together and began seriously contemplating shooting a Special Beam Cannon her way when, to his relief, Goku materialized on the lawn next to them.

Chi-Chi lunged at Goku hysterically. "WHERE WERE YOU?"

Goku shrunk away from his wife's anger, putting his hands up as if to defend himself against her verbal attack.

"I was training with Vegeta!" Chi-Chi only grew more furious at his admission, so Goku tried a different approach. "Come on, Chi-Chi. The stronger I get, the less likely it is we're going to need Gohan to fight…"

Chi-Chi's manic expression changed to one of contentment. "Oh, you're right! Why didn't I think of that?" She kissed her husband on the cheek. "Breakfast should be ready in ten minutes!"

She disappeared inside the Son home and Goku breathed a sigh of relief. Piccolo narrowed his eyes at his former rival.

"That's the second time in a row she has come looking for me after you disappeared. There better be a good reason for it," he said.

Goku nodded. "Yes, there is! I'm helping Vegeta become a Super Saiyan!" Piccolo's eyes widened. "And I'm trying to get Bulma and Vegeta together, but it's not really working. Haha, they really hate each other!"

"Goku, why are you interfering?" Piccolo said. "Trunks said it was a… 'passion sort of thing.' Which means they're not exactly going to be falling all over each other."

"Yeah, I know, but… well, Bulma punched him right in the face yesterday! I don't exactly see how you can go from punching someone to kissing them," Goku rationalized.

"Goku… Trunks is supposed to be born one year before the androids get here. That means Bulma and Vegeta still have just over a year to conceive him. If you leave them alone, I'm sure it'll happen. As of right now, the more you're around them, the more you're going to get in the way."

Goku was incredulous. "Nah, I don't think you're right. How could I get in the way?"

Piccolo exhaled deeply. "Somehow I understand relationships better than you do, Goku."

Piccolo's comment sparked something inside Goku's head… the beginnings of a crazy plan. "Hey…" he said. "Maybe YOU can help me get them together!"

Piccolo nearly had a heart attack.

***

Half the day was gone before Vegeta finally awoke after another long night of training with Goku. He wasn't any closer to becoming a Super Saiyan. In fact, the longer he trained with his rival, the farther away his goal seemed to get. And on top of all that… Bulma refused to speak to him. She refused to feed him. Every time she saw him, she simply turned around and went back the way she came. _Childish woman_, he thought.

Vegeta supposed it was for the best. The last thing he wanted to do was discuss what almost happened in the gravity room before Goku barged in.

He glanced at the clock hanging on the kitchen wall. _Kakkarot will be here in an hour… _That gave him just enough time to figure out how to cook. He sighed, staring dumbfound into the oven. He considered using a service bot to help him, but his previous experiences with them proved they were less than reliable. _How do you activate this inferior contraption? _Vegeta began pushing buttons senselessly on the oven control panel, but all he managed to do was change the time so that it read 5:00 AM instead of 8:00 PM.

Releasing an aggravated sigh, Vegeta searched the compound for Bulma's presence. He sensed her ki in the lab, but he didn't bother asking for her assistance--she'd just threaten to destroy the G.R. and slam the door in his face again. Normally he wouldn't permit such behavior towards him from anyone--especially Bulma--but he decided interaction with her had best be avoided if he wanted to stay focused on his goals. She was doing him a favor by ignoring him… at least, that's what he told himself.

Vegeta eventually gave up on the oven and began scouring the refrigerator, eating anything that didn't need to be cooked. The result was heartburn and slight nausea--maybe mixing those raw onions and strawberries wasn't a good idea. But the nausea subsided, and when Goku arrived to train with Vegeta, he was ready.

The clearing in which they trained was looking more and more like a war zone every night, but neither warrior noticed; the surging adrenaline and pure excitement of battle overtook their Saiyan minds as they sparred viciously, Vegeta's attacks more focused, more effective now that he was learning Goku's likeliest moves and techniques. For the third night in a row, they trained until the sun rose.

Unbeknownst to Goku and Vegeta, they had an audience. Thirty yards from the clearing in which they fought, a long cloaked figure with narrow slits for eyes watched the battle with intrigue. "Hmm," he spoke aloud to himself. "These Earthlings are different from the others. Perhaps I will need backup after all." And with that said, the being lifted two fingers to what can only be described as its head and disappeared.

***

A/N: Don't you just love foreboding? Haha. And yes, this is part of the chapter I promised at the end of chapter two, but as you can see, it happened a little later than expected. I'm going to drag this story out longer than I originally planned… my head is simply teeming with B/V ideas. This chapter was another long one, I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks as usual to the reviewers. Keep that feedback coming, I don't mind it at all :P


	5. Under the Influence

-1Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or its characters, just the plot to this story. I'm a budding law student, so don't even try to sue me.

***

**Chapter Five - Under the Influence**

***

"VEGETA!"

The Saiyan prince smirked triumphantly as Bulma came stomping into the kitchen. She screamed when she took in the sight before her; her microwave was on fire and there Vegeta stood motionless beside it, arms crossed, observing the flames.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?"

She was absolutely furious. _It worked_, Vegeta thought. Bulma hadn't spoken a word to him for a week, and he knew setting the kitchen on fire was finally going to break the ice. Her parents were on a business trip and Bulma refused to make him food. He didn't take very well to living on cold vegetables and bread.

"Well woman, if you didn't insist on starving me this wouldn't have happened," he said matter-of-factly, relishing in her hysterical behavior.

She stared furiously at him for a moment as the fire continued to burn and the kitchen curtains caught fire. The smoke alarm was ringing so loudly it drowned all other sounds out completely.

Despite the fire spreading fast, Bulma couldn't move. She was _that _angry. When she spoke it was with forced composure. "You know what, Vegeta? You better take care of this, because I'm not going to clean up your messes anymore." She left the kitchen without so much as a backwards glance. Vegeta gaped after her in disbelief.

Smoke was filling the kitchen quickly, choking him, and he suddenly realized it was now his responsibility to put out the fire. He moved quickly, bringing in the hose from just outside the kitchen door and turning it on full blast. He drenched the flames and listened as they sizzled out dramatically, omitting a sharp hissing noise that nearly overtook the high-pitched smoke alarm. He examined the charred remains of the Briefs' kitchen countertops--the microwave was unrecognizable and the curtains were singed beyond repair. Against the wall where the fire once crackled, a charred remnant of the wall remained, blackened, still sizzling slightly. Vegeta winced as he realized the hose was still running and turned it off immediately, but not before large pools of water formed throughout the kitchen. He hadn't meant to cause this much damage, and he almost felt… bad about it.

The smoke alarm still beeped uncontrollably, and that's when Bulma made a reappearance--with a mop in hand, she furiously knocked the alarm from the ceiling and watched it smash to the floor into a pool of water.

Slowly, Bulma took in her surroundings and sighed. She didn't look at Vegeta, nor did she speak to him. With the mop, she began soaking the water from the ground and rummaging through the kitchen cabinets for cleaning supplies. Vegeta said nothing as he returned to the gravity room. After all that, she obviously still wasn't talking to him, and this time he couldn't really blame her.

***

Goku didn't show up to train that day (apparently he was getting his driver's license), so Vegeta retired from training a few hours earlier than usual. He was outside his bedroom door, ready to get to bed and pass out, when his sensitive hearing picked up what sounded like laughter coming from the direction of Bulma's room. Curiosity struck him and he was outside her door in seconds, leaning his head slightly forward to pick up her muffled words. He soon realized she wasn't laughing, she was _crying_.

"Oh, Chi-Chi, it was horrible!" Bulma spoke in between sobs. "I spent the entire afternoon cleaning the kitchen… I couldn't use a service bot because Vegeta soaked the entire kitchen floor, the bot would have malfunctioned! He used a hose on the fire, can you believe it? … I know, he's impossible! … You're right, Chi-Chi, you're right… I've never regretted something so much in my life! … Kick him out? How am I going to do that? … Oh come on, Chi-Chi, Yamcha practically wets himself any time Vegeta's name is mentioned…"

Vegeta furrowed his brows as he listened. She wanted to kick him out? He had always thought she was crazy for offering her home to him in the first place, and maybe she was finally coming to her senses. Two months ago Vegeta would have left gladly, without complaint. But knowing she wanted him out now, and hearing her crying foolish tears over his actions, awakened a long dead emotion within him. He wanted to dismiss the emotion as pity for this fragile woman, but it felt more like sadness. The last time he'd felt even a scrap of sadness was as he lay dying at Goku's feet, pleading for the fellow warrior to destroy Frieza's evil regime.

With fists clenched, Vegeta momentarily considered marching into Bulma's room and telling her to stop being weak, but instead returned to his own room. He didn't understand why he cared, but somehow, her tears and her refusal to speak to him was bothersome. Once upon a time he would have welcomed a ceasefire to her incessant nagging, but he was getting used to their verbal battles and brutal, offhanded remarks. Her silence was unsettling now.

Bulma made it very clear throughout the week that the only way she would speak to him again is if he apologized to her for what he'd said after Goku interrupted them in the gravity room. _Ha! She really is a foolish woman if she thinks the prince of all Saiyans will apologize to her. _But even as he thought it, he knew he had to do _something_, and not just for the sake of getting some real food.

Before drifting off to sleep, Vegeta told himself he was going to confront Bulma the next day and demand that she stop ignoring him. But this time he would do it without setting anything on fire…

***

"What if we buy them non-refundable tickets for a movie or a play or something, then they'll have to go!"

Piccolo groaned. "Sometimes I'm not so sure about you, Goku," he said, shaking his head.

They (well, mostly Goku) were trying to come up with ways to boost Bulma and Vegeta's friendship after a long afternoon of training, but to no avail. Everything Goku suggested would work on a normal couple, but a super genius and an alien prince… it was practically impossible.

Goku leaned back against the couch and sighed. "If only Vegeta weren't so uptight! He needs to loosen up and learn how to have fun!" He sighed again. "Any ideas, Piccolo?"

The Namek shook his head. "You know I don't agree with interfering, Goku. You've done enough damage."

Goku frowned. He wandered into the kitchen as his stomach rumbled and, seeing that Chi-Chi was outside doing laundry, began rummaging through the fridge for a mid-afternoon snack. A bottle of sake caught his attention suddenly…

"Hmm," he said. "Piccolo, I think I know how to get Vegeta to loosen up."

***

Vegeta fell to his knees under the weight of 450gs crushing down on him. He drew short, labored breaths as he walked towards the mother computer and turned the gravity back to normal. A thin layer of sweat covered his entire body, dripping onto the tiled floor in tiny pools. He had only one thing on his mind. _Need. Water._

He went to the kitchen, noting that Bulma was nowhere in sight, and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge. He was too thirsty to notice that it, along with the rest of the water bottles in the refrigerator, had been opened, their seals broken subtly. Vegeta took a long, satisfying swig of the cold liquid, finishing the bottle in two gulps.

_My throat is burning. This must be that flavored water crap the woman always drinks_, he thought as he gulped down another bottle. Curiously, he began noticing that the more he drank, the more parched he became. His frustration grew along with the dryness in his throat.

Somewhere nearby he sensed Goku and Piccolo's energy and made a mental note to find them as soon as his thirst was properly quenched. Six bottles later, however, Vegeta's craving prevailed, and he began feeling very lightheaded.

***

"Ouch!"

Bulma winced as she cut her finger on a piece of metal sticking out from the circuitry of a service bot she was repairing. She retrieved the first aid kit her father kept in one of the lab cabinets and searched through it.

"No bandaids."

She sighed. She really didn't relish the walk from her lab to the kitchen, where her mother kept an endless supply of first aid supplies. Capsule Corp felt unnecessarily big to her sometimes.

When Bulma entered the kitchen she stopped abruptly at the sight of Vegeta, standing before the fridge with a half finished bottle of water in his hand. _What is he doing out of the gravity room this early?_

She contemplated turning around but decided against it. She wasn't going to be a prisoner in her own home just because she was trying to avoid Vegeta at all costs.

With her nose upturned she passed within inches of Vegeta, who didn't seem to notice her presence. From the corner of her eye, Bulma could see he was staring intensely at the water bottle in his hand, as if he were reading the label but couldn't understand its meaning.

She almost asked him what he was doing but remembered her vow of silence against him. She had decided since his insulting behavior last week that she was tired of his mood swings, and only until he apologized to her would she act civil towards him again. Her motivation to ignore him only increased after the kitchen fiasco the day before. Still, curiosity was beginning to get the best of her, and she was growing increasingly annoyed that he had yet to close the refrigerator.

"What is this?" Vegeta said as he broke the silence between the two.

Bulma narrowed her eyes at him; she didn't quite understand the question. She saw with mild surprise that his eyes were bloodshot and glazed over, as if he'd been crying, or laughing hysterically.

"It's water, Vegeta," Bulma spat, her eyes downcast as she replied. She didn't want to look at him directly for fear he would somehow soften her resolve.

"S'not," Vegeta said. Bulma supposed he meant to say, "It's not" but it came out sounding more like "snot." The way he spoke was slightly out of character for Vegeta; he tended to enunciate and speak properly, or "princely" as he might put it.

He began to chuckle lightly and went back to staring at the bottle. "Tastes like… fermentated rice."

"Do you mean _fermented_?" Bulma asked, her head cocked slightly to the side now. He wasn't acting like himself.

"Yeah, thasit, fermented."

With her eyes still narrowed suspiciously, Bulma grabbed the water bottle from Vegeta's hand and took a small sip. It was a familiar taste, but it certainly wasn't water.

"Vegeta, this is sake!" she exclaimed. She grabbed another water bottle from the fridge and opened it, took a sip, only to find it too had been alcoholically contaminated. She noticed suddenly that each bottle cap seal was broken, which meant each had been opened and refilled with the alcoholic beverage. _I'm willing to bet they're all sake… _Bulma thought.

"Vegeta, these are twenty-four ounce water bottles, how many did you have?"

He chuckled again, and he almost sounded good-natured. "I dunno. I loss count affer six."

"Six bottles? That's one hundred and forty-four ounces! Oh my god, you're going to get alcohol poisoning!"

_Why does this stuff always happen to me when my parents go out of town? _She thought frantically, massaging her temples as she tried to figure out what to do, recalling all she knew about alcohol poisoning.

"Okay, so the liver metabolizes about a half ounce of pure alcohol an hour… okay… so…" Her mind was working quickly as she tried to figure out how much alcohol it might take to kill a Saiyan. There really was no telling; she had no idea how quickly a Saiyan's liver metabolized anything, though by the amount of food they ate she was filling to bet their bodies worked much different than a human's.

She grabbed Vegeta's hand and was relieved to find that his body temperature seemed fairly normal, if not higher than expected. This was a good thing, since she knew people with alcohol poisoning grew cold and clammy. He scoffed when she took his hand and snatched it back with unnecessary fervor. Bulma realized that if Vegeta was as drunk as he should be at this point, he probably wouldn't control his strength very well, so she made a mental note to keep a safe distance from him.

She examined his appearance; he certainly _looked_ intoxicated (he was swaying ever so slightly from side to side), but he didn't look as if he were going to pass out… yet. Bulma sighed. _I have better things to be doing than babysitting a hammered Saiyan… _

Recalling Yamcha's intoxication remedies, she rummaged around in the pantry until she found a giant loaf of bred. _This'll soak up some of that alcohol… _

"Here, Vegeta, eat this," she said, holding the loaf out to him. With lightening fast reflexes he snatched the bread from her hand and gobbled it down in seconds. Bulma poured him a large glass of tap water and watched as he finished it equally fast.

Then, silence. Vegeta seemed to be in deep concentration, which was strange, as he appeared to be utterly intoxicated. But, much to Bulma's relief, he seemed capable of controlling himself--for the most part.

"You should lay down," Bulma suggested, motioning for him to follow her into the living room. He complied and followed her slowly, knocking into the dining room table as he did.

"What is happening to me? Did you--you poisoned me?" Vegeta asked as he sat down next to Bulma on the couch, turning on her accusingly. Bulma's eyes widened. "No, Vegeta, I didn't poison you! I have no idea who refilled those water bottles with sake--I'm going to have to examine the tapes," she said.

"Tapes? You have cameras spying on me?"

Bulma took a deep breath. "No, Vegeta. Why are you being so paranoid? You're supposed to be more laid back. Paranoia is a different drug completely…"

"I'm not paranoid. The prince is not paranoid. Don't insult me like that you stupid… woman."

Bulma raised an eyebrow. "The prince? You forgot the "of all Saiyans" part," she said. "And I see alcohol doesn't do much for your endless lexicon of insults. Good for me I guess."

Vegeta seemed confused by what she was saying so Bulma changed the subject. "So, how do you feel?"

"I feel like…" he couldn't seem to put the feeling into words. "Are you sure this isn't poison, Bulma?"

She felt a familiar tingle run through her, which was apparently triggered by Vegeta's use of her name. "It's alcohol, Vegeta. And I don't think you drank enough to die, so you're going to be fine. You'll probably just have a major headache in the morning. You might vomit. But I think you'll be fine. And," she added, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but don't say my name. It sounds… weird coming from you."

Vegeta scoffed. "Bulma. What kind of name is that anyway? Briefs? I hope this isn't a family tradition--your kids will be very unhappy if so. Bulma. Hah! What's next?"

She narrowed her eyes at the inebriated prince. "Excuse me, but you are in no position to make fun of my name, veggie-boy," she shot back, hiding her amusement. His appearance was humorous to say the least--his eyelids were fluttering, his mouth was half open, exposing his tongue lolling from side to side, and he was stretched lazily across the couch, wearing only his boxers, bare feet facing Bulma.

_I gotta get a picture of this. I've never seen Vegeta so relaxed…_

Bulma's thoughts sparked a sudden idea. She knew how to make this situation work to her advantage. Vegeta said something before she could, however.

"You're talking to me," Vegeta said blankly. "Why?"

"Because you're not being a complete asshole at the moment. And you're drunk, you're my friend, and I take care of my drunk friends," Bulma explained matter-of-factly, waiting for his response. She would be able to tell just how free of inhibitions he was by his response.

"Friend? You're a ridiculous woman. I don't understand you."

"Well I don't understand you, either, so at least we have something in common."

Vegeta cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, Vegeta, you're so… hot and cold. One minute you're actually acting pretty decent, for you, and the next it's, "Hey, servant woman, feed me!" I'm ridiculous? Please…"

"Is that why you were ignoring me?"

Bulma nodded.

Vegeta shook his head. "You're very immature for a grown woman."

"Immature? My life's mission isn't to kill my greatest rival! I mean, seriously, what are you going to do when Goku's dead? Try to… what, take over the universe? Become immortal? What are your long-term goals, Vegeta?"

He stared into her eyes for an uncomfortably long time before answering, "Warriors don't have long-term goals. We expect to die. I thought you knew that."

Bulma was taken aback by his blunt response, and she felt a little sorry for him. "That sounds like such an empty life," she said.

Vegeta grunted but did not respond. The bread and water combo had fixed his slurred speech and increased his concentration, but he was still speaking openly with her, so Bulma continued to take advantage of it.

"Why did you… why were so insulting after we almost ki--"

"Because Kakkarot walked in," Vegeta said it as if it were the most obvious answer in the world, and it dawned on Bulma suddenly. She had forgotten about Vegeta's pride, somehow. Of course he wasn't going to act remotely friendly towards her in front of other people, especially Goku.

"Oh, right. That make sense," she said. "I'm sorry I ignored you all week. I guess that's not going to help change you into a better person." He scoffed at that.

"A better person? Is that your master plan to save your precious Kakkarot? You think you can become friends with me and persuade me to abandon all my goals?"

Bulma shrugged. "Why not? Maybe if you weren't so hell bent on destroying Goku, you could actually form some long term goals."

"Like what, woman? Get a job? Start a family? Live like a human? That's never going to happen. I won't settle for the life you're settling for with that pathetic mate of yours."

"Actually," Bulma said. "I'm breaking up with Yamcha. He's not what I want."

"I don't care what you want. I only care about one thing--becoming a Super Saiyan and defeating Kakkarot."

Bulma sighed. "I know, it's a shame, too, 'cause when you're nice you really are kind of cute."

Vegeta sneered in disgust. "Stop saying that! I'm not cute!"

"Oh? So you're saying you're not attractive?"

"Well--yes, I'm extremely attractive, but 'cute' doesn't describe it."

"Do you prefer 'ruggedly handsome' ?"

Growling, Vegeta began to get up from the couch, only to be knocked back by a sudden wave of dizziness. "Stop mocking me!"

Bulma shrugged. "I'm feeding your ego, I thought you liked that."

He looked frustrated and didn't say anything for a long while. Bulma broke the silence.

"So, how close are you to becoming a Super Saiyan?" she asked.

He looked suspicious of her question, but answered, "Not as close as I'd prefer to be." He sighed deeply. "Kakkarot said I needed something to fight for. I don't know what that means. I'm fighting to become the best!"

Bulma smiled. "Goku _would_ say that. I think he means you need some _one_ to fight for. I'm not really sure how this Super Saiyan stuff works, but it seems to be motivated by selflessness. No offense, Vegeta, but you're not that good at selflessness."

He waved off her response and called it ridiculously far-fetched, but Bulma could see in his eyes that he was worried she was right. Because if she was, he really had no hope of achieving his ultimate goal. Everything he cared about had been destroyed when he was just a boy.

Bulma felt another pang of sympathy for her headstrong housemate, and she wasn't sure why. After all, he had pledged to destroy her best friend once he achieved Super Saiyan status. Then again, she was illogical for feeling anything at all for Vegeta…

"Woman," Vegeta asked. She looked at him, showing him he had her full attention. He continued, "Why would you separate from Scarface?"

"Scarface? Oh, you mean Yamcha…" she said.

"Yes, that moron."

"There was nothing wrong with him, really. I mean, he wasn't unfaithful… at least not that I know of… I think we just grew apart. That happens."

Vegeta grunted.

"What?" Bulma asked.

He looked over at her with his mouth half open, as if he were slightly hesitant to answer her question. "Humans are very different than Saiyans in that way…" he began. "When we mate, we mate for life. It's an unspoken bond that is deeply engraved within us… forever."

Bulma's eyes widened. "Forever? Wow, that sounds intense. In a good way."

Vegeta nodded. "Kakkarot will likely never mate with another woman. Even if his woman dies, the bond remains."

"And you said it's an… unspoken bond? I always thought it was like, signified by a bite mark or something like that…"

Vegeta laughed. "We may transform into giant apes but we're not _animals_, woman. That's not how we mark our territory." He continued chuckling uncharacteristically, signaling to Bulma that he was still semi-intoxicated. Enough to speak openly with her, much as he had during his recovery from the gravity room explosion.

"I'm really glad you can talk with me like this, Vegeta," Bulma said.

"Don't get used to it woman. I'm feeling unnaturally talkative right now." He hiccupped. "And I'm… starving."

_Alcohol munchies_, Bulma thought. She picked up the phone. Pizza delivery to the rescue.

***

Vegeta had been passed out on the living room couch for four hours now. On the floor next to him stood a stack of ten empty pizza boxes. Bulma assessed the boxes and laughed inwardly. She didn't know how Chi-Chi afforded to keep Goku well fed… Saiyans were living, breathing vacuums.

At that moment it occurred to Bulma that she could check the security camera tapes from within her father's lab to see who was behind the alcoholic water bottle fiasco. She made a note to herself to thank whoever did it.

She reached her father's lab and punched in the entrance code, stepping inside the room and closing the door swiftly behind her. She immediately went to the mini television sets that monitored the compound. Cameras were placed in nine places throughout Capsule Corp, and one was located directly outside the kitchen, pointing at the sliding glass door.

Bulma rewound the tape quickly until she saw a blur on the screen and pressed the play button. She raised her eyebrows in confusion and surprise as she made out Goku's unmistakable form as he materialized in front of the door that led to her kitchen, accompanied by a figure that could only be Piccolo holding a large brown paper bag. Goku appeared to shush Piccolo as he slowly opened the door and stepped inside the kitchen. Bulma saw him open the fridge and remove each water bottle as Piccolo took bottles of sake from the paper bag, dumped the water, and refilled them carefully with the alcohol.

Bulma scoffed. "What is wrong with those two?" She went back to her kitchen and used the house phone to dial Chi-Chi's number. When the younger woman picked up, Bulma said without hesitation, "Hey Chi-Chi. Can I speak to Goku?"

Chi-Chi agreed and handed the phone off to her husband, who answered cheerfully with a, "Hiya, Bulma!"

"Goku, come over here immediately!" She spoke with such ferocity that Goku complied right away, materializing in front of her seconds later.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Bulma was tapping her foot against the floor, her arms crossed. "You know what's wrong, Goku! Playing a prank on Vegeta like that… I saw you on camera, so you can't deny it."

"Well it's nice to see you care so much about Vegeta!" Goku said happily.

"Of course I care! We all have a stake in Vegeta! Next to you, he's the best we have, and we need him for the fight against the androids! And you--" she poked his chest forcefully, "--could have killed him with that little stunt!"

Goku looked sheepishly down at his feet as if he were being chastised by his mother. "Sorry, Bulma…"

Her face softened. It was hard to stay mad at Goku. "Well, you should go. Vegeta is out cold thanks to you, and I don't need you waking him up, he's going to have a bad enough morning as it is."

Goku nodded. "Well, hopefully not too bad." He spoke knowingly, but Bulma didn't pick up on it. "Night, Bulma!"

She watched her friend disappear in the blink of an eye and went to check on Vegeta inside the living room, but he was gone. _Hmm_, she thought. _Must have went to his room to sleep._

She shrugged it off and began clearing away the empty pizza boxes.

***

Vegeta sat on his bed with his fists clenched, his face contorted in pain and fury. Pain from the hangover, fury from Goku being the cause of it. He also felt disappointed. When he'd heard Bulma tell Goku that her only stake in him was his ability to fight the androids… He felt foolish for thinking her motivations ran any deeper than that. It all made sense now. He understood why she insisted on being his friend.

Well, as spoiled as she was, Vegeta swore to himself that his friendship would be one thing Bulma Briefs could not have.

***

A/N: Sorry that this chap took a little longer than usual. Finals are coming up, bear with me. Hope you all enjoyed it! If you did, don't hesitate to review, and thanks to all of you who reviewed the last chapter. The chapters to follow are going to be more intense/dramatic. Next chapter should be up soon. Until then, happy reading.


	6. Interlude

-1

Dislcaimer: The usual.

***

**Chapter Six - Interlude**

***

Countless mornings started like this. He awoke with a start, stirred from sleep amidst his own violent thrashing. The sun spilled into the room, engulfing him in its rays. It was a cruel sort of irony—he awoke from the darkest of nightmares only to be bathed in light.

The nightmare was always the same. Kakkarot and the boy from the future, both Super Saiyans, floating before him. Always out of reach, their twisted smirks mocking him… it was maddening.

But tonight, the nightmare was different. He stood enveloped in the darkness, in the anguish of his failure, in the torment of his tireless trials, and suddenly, she was there. In an aura of blinding blue light, she stood before him, smirking—though not cruelly or mockingly. Her smirk was a challenge, a dare for him to take her outstretched hand. He accepted her challenge. He took her hand.

Vegeta wrenched out of sleep with an agonizing cry. The sunlight splashed through the window, beating down and blinding him, the same way she had blinded him in his dream. He propped himself up on his elbows and tried to steady his breathing, searching his surroundings as if he expected them to fall away to the blackness with which his dreams had made him so familiar. He told himself he was safe… for now. The darkness never let him rest.

Countless mornings started like this, but this morning marked the last. His nightmare was over.

At least, he thought it was.

***

**A/N: **This "chapter" is just a short interlude. The second part of the story is starting after this, and it's darker, so I wanted to write something that would help that transition along. This little snippet didn't really fit into the next chapter though, I felt like it stood alone, and I decided to post it early as a separate entity. So here you go. I'm working on the next real chapter as you read this. I rewrote the summary for this story, so if you want a clue as to the direction I'm going in, it's all there.


	7. Mood Swings

-1Disclaimer: I think you get the point by now.

***

**Chapter 7 - Mood Swings**

***

It was almost 11 p.m, and Bulma sat upon her living room couch, sipping from a large coffee mug and tapping her feet on the floor impatiently.

What was the busy heir to Capsule Corporation doing up past her bed time, you might ask? The answer came with the honk of a horn. Bulma started at the sound of it, almost dropping some coffee in her lap. She peaked out of the living room window and saw Yamcha's car in the driveway.

"Finally…" she muttered as she opened her front door and walked outside to greet him. She pulled her arms around her body tightly, reacting to the cool night breeze; a sign that summer was coming to an end.

Yamcha had called her around 9 p.m. and told her he needed to talk to her, that it was urgent—usually when he called at that time he had something specific on his mind, but Bulma had a feeling he was not looking for a booty call this time around.

She approached the passenger's side of his vehicle and opened the door slowly, plopping down next to him on the empty seat. He was staring straight ahead of him, and acknowledged her presence with a simple, "Hi."

"Hey," she responded, closing the passenger's door in an attempt to block out the cold wind.

"We need to talk," Yamcha said. Wasting no time, he backed out of Bulma's driveway and drove to a park down the street.

"Remember when we used to come here?" he asked her, still staring straight ahead as he put his car in park and removed his seat belt. Bulma felt tense; she kept her seatbelt on.

"I really thought we were going to get married," Yamcha continued, chuckling lightly. "I can't believe how stupid we were when we were younger, can you?"

Bulma's expression softened as she replied, "I think everyone is that way with their first love, Yamcha." The tension was beginning to ease.

He nodded and took a deep breath. "I'm seeing someone," he blurted out suddenly. Bulma raised her eyebrows as Yamcha clasped his hand over his mouth.

"Oh, you are, are you?" Bulma said, regaining a bit of her trademark attitude. "And when exactly did you decide we were officially broken up? That's a big decision to make all by yourself, don't you think?"

Yamcha's eyes widened. "But I thought—the last time we talked—I haven't spoke to you in—but—"

Bulma stopped him. "I'm just giving you a hard time, Yamcha, relax." She smiled. He breathed a sigh of relief and put his arm around her.

"We friends?" he asked. Bulma nodded, shaking his hand playfully.

"Friends," she agreed.

Just as the words left her mouth, Bulma's eyes filled with light—light from something that resembled a meteor as it crashed in front of Yamcha's car, the force of the explosion launching the car backwards into a tree. Yamcha flew forward and smashed through his windshield—Bulma stayed in place, her seatbelt still fastened tightly against her body.

She blinked profusely as white dots flashed before her eyes and released herself from the seatbelt, wrenching open the passenger side door and falling to the ground on her hands and knees. She began coughing uncontrollably as smoke filled her lungs.

"Oh, no! Bulma!"

Bulma heard Goku's voice off in the distance, and before she knew it, she was in his arms as he lifted her out of the destruction and set her down on the grass about twenty yards away. He rushed back into the plume of smoke, presumably to rescue Yamcha—his car was on fire, and there was a large crater in the ground just in front of where the meteor hit.

"Woman."

Bulma turned at the sound of Vegeta's voice and saw to her surprise that he was standing right behind her, his arms crossed, brows furrowed, playing up his usual indifference. His eyes, however, were locked on her body, and Bulma realized with a rush that he was searching for injuries.

"I-I'm fine," she said. He hadn't asked how she was; at least, not directly. But she saw the question in his eyes.

"Your mate wasn't so lucky," he muttered, nodding in Goku's direction as the younger Saiyan walked towards them, a very bloodied Yamcha in his arms.

"He's not my boyfriend anymore, Vegeta!" Bulma said, but she gasped when she saw her ex. Yamcha was conscious, however, his face was contorted in pain and he was losing a lot of blood fast—he had at least four large pieces of glass lodged in his body.

Bulma screamed. "Oh my god, what happened? Goku, what was that?"

Goku hung his head as he replied, "That was a ki blast. Vegeta threw it at me and I deflected it… a little too much to the left…"

"Nice going, Goku! Could you get me to a hospital, please? It hurts!" Yamcha cried through the pain. Vegeta scoffed.

"That blast didn't even hit you directly, weakling. And you call yourself a warrior…"

Bulma felt anger rising within her. "VEGETA! I was in that car too, you know! If I didn't have my seat belt on I'd probably be dead right now!"

The prince shrugged. "One less human to worry about."

Bulma ignored him and turned to Goku. "We need to get Yamcha to a hospital!" she said.

Goku nodded. "Right. I'll use instant transmission to get him over there. Grab Yamcha's gi if you want to come." Bulma complied and watched as Goku put two fingers to his forehead and prepared to transport them to the hospital. At the last moment, Bulma reached out and grabbed Vegeta's shoulder.

"Oh no you don't. You're partly responsible for this, you're coming too."

Before he could protest, the four were standing inside the hospital lobby. Well, Goku, Bulma, and Vegeta were standing—Yamcha was writhing on the floor, smearing his blood against the tile.

The lobby's inhabitants stared in awe, shocked by the group's sudden appearance. Nobody moved for nearly a minute before Bulma lost her patience.

"HELLO! WE NEED HELP HERE!"

***

"Well, Mrs. Briefs, it looks like you inhaled quite a bit of smoke, but not enough to cause any serious damage. Your throat might feel a little hoarse for a few days, but other than that, you should be fine." The doctor sighed. "Imagine! What are the chances of a meteor crashing right in front of you?"

Bulma smiled. "I know, how bizarre. Well, thanks for checking me out!" she said gratefully to the doctor. He was attending to her while Yamcha was in surgery. He needed rows of stitches, but he was going to live.

The doctor left the room and Bulma breathed a sigh of relief as she turned to Goku and Vegeta. Goku was beaming pleasantly down at her while Vegeta stood off to the side, his arms crossed, eyes downcast, as usual.

"You guys should really consider training further away from the city," she said. "Anyone weaker than Yamcha definitely wouldn't be recovering from that blast so soon."

"Ha!" Vegeta said. "He is the weakest human on this planet. You don't need to worry."

Bulma choked back the urge to laugh at Vegeta's comment. "He didn't exactly take it like a man, did he?"

Goku and Vegeta both raised their eyebrows.

"Bulma," said Goku. "Did you just _agree_ with Vegeta?"

Bulma blinked. "Yeah… I guess I did."

Vegeta smirked. "Well, that's more like it. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to get back to the gravity room. Kakkarot, I suggest you follow me unless you wish to continue wasting your time."

With that, Vegeta turned away from Goku and Bulma and swiftly left the room. A series of gasps from the lobby told them that Vegeta had decided to fly right out of the hospital.

Goku chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Bulma asked.

He shook his head. "Oh, nothing. Just that, did you notice he only stuck around until the doctor said you were okay?"

Bulma was taken aback by Goku's observation. "What are you getting at, Goku?" she asked. Her old friend now wore a knowing smile.

"Oh, I don't know," he replied, still chuckling.

Bulma crossed her arms. "Well, I think you're wrong. He wasn't even going to come with us until I grabbed his shoulder."

Goku gave her a sly smile. "Actually, Bulma, he was already reaching out to grab Yamcha's gi when you grabbed him. Didn't you notice?"

She shook her head. "No, I didn't…"

Goku's grin widened. "Anyway, I should get going. Are you going to stay here with Yamcha?"

"Yeah. My parents just got back from their trip, I can get one of them to pick me up. I'll see you later."

Goku winked at her and disappeared, leaving Bulma alone to think.

_Is Goku right? Vegeta couldn't actually care about me, could he?_

Well, she decided. There was only one way to find out.

***

Bulma's plan was simple enough. It took about one week to work out all the kinks, but she was feeling very confident.

Yamcha was still at home recovering, and his new girlfriend rendered all of Bulma's efforts to comfort him obsolete. It didn't bother her much—she had her hands full at Capsule Corp with Vegeta. Now that her parents were back from their business trip, her mom took over the daunting task of cooking for the overzealous Saiyan, and Bulma and her father went to work on creating more high-tech, battle-resistant droids for Vegeta to spar with when Goku wasn't around.

Besides all of that—Bulma had a theory to test.

It was mid afternoon, and Vegeta had been training in the G.R. for nearly five hours already. She counted down the seconds until he would come barreling out, demanding food from her mother.

_Three, two, one…_

Right on cue, the gravity room door flew open and Vegeta stepped out, his eyes locked on kitchen. He ignored Bulma as he walked by, but she stopped him.

"Oh, Vegeta?" she said innocently.

He whirled around. "What do you want?" he demanded.

"I need to make some repairs to the gravity room… the roof. Do you mind training outside until I finish?"

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at her. "Yes, I mind."

Bulma sighed. "Well, you can't use it while I'm up there, I'll fall off if you're training too hard…"

Rolling his eyes, Vegeta began walking towards the kitchen once more. "Fine. Just hurry it up, stupid woman."

Bulma smiled to herself as she watched Vegeta step into the kitchen and order her mother to prepare a meal for him. She walked over to the G.R. and de-capsulated a ladder, which she used to climb to the roof. Once she reached her destination, she de-capsulated her toolbox and began working on a series of invisible and unneeded repairs.

She was on the roof fifteen minutes when Vegeta finished his meal and began fussing about how long she was taking. He stood at the base of the G.R. with his arms crossed, impatiently watching her work.

"All done!" Bulma called. She encapsulated her toolbox once more and took a deep breath as she braced herself for a fall.

It occurred to her, as it had many times throughout the week, that Vegeta might not save her, but she shrugged it off. He _had _to save her. She almost knew he would.

Gingerly, she put her left foot down on the ladder step and began moving her right leg to do the same. Instead, she put both her hands on the side of the G.R. and peaked over her shoulder to see if Vegeta was watching. He seemed to be staring intently at his boots, so she launched herself backwards and let out a blood-curdling scream to alert Vegeta to her predicament.

She was consumed by a sudden fear that she might die as the wind whipped around her and she fell; her entire body tensed in anticipation for the impact. But the impact never came. Just seconds after she flung herself from the G.R, she was in Vegeta's arms. He flew up to catch her halfway before she hit the ground, and now the two were levitating midair as Bulma attempted to catch her breath. She looked up at the prince in awe.

"You saved me!" she exclaimed, almost accusingly. Vegeta's eyes widened and he set her down immediately, backing up towards the gravity chamber as if he intended to ignore her and return to his training.

"I didn't save you!" he said, mortified. "It was a… reflex."

Bulma crossed her arms and turned her nose up at him defiantly. "Nope, you definitely saved me."

Vegeta was getting increasingly annoyed with her wild accusations. "You're an imbecile! I only saved you because—"

Bulma cut him off. "My mom cooks for you and my dad can fix the G.R. just as easily as I can. You saved me because you care, plain and simple."

Vegeta's fists tightened into balls at his sides. "I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU. YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME!" he yelled before disappearing once again inside the G.R.

Bulma pouted slightly, but she couldn't help feeling a little giddy. She knew the prince well enough by now to realize that he often meant the opposite of what he said.

She encapsulated her ladder and headed back to her lab, a triumphant grin upon her face. Vegeta watched her through one of the gravity chamber windows until she entered the compound and disappeared. He scoffed loudly to himself.

_That woman and her games! She thinks she can soften me up by pretending to fall and expecting me to catch her?_

He growled. He knew Bulma had deliberately lost her footing while she was "repairing" the gravity chamber. He saw her push herself off the ladder…

Vegeta sat down on the gravity room floor and began massaging his temples. Why did he save her? He couldn't conceive of it. All he knew was that as he saw her fall from the G.R's roof, he was consumed by an insatiable fear that she might die—the same fear that overtook him when he realized his deflected blast had nearly hit her last week.

He pounded the floor with his fists in frustration. He couldn't deny it; he cared about her well-being. Too much, it seemed, to ignore it any longer. He had to know for certain whether she felt the same way, or whether she was acting in the best interest of her friends, as he originally thought. He decided to confront her about it later that night.

Vegeta spent the rest of the day training and dreading the confrontation, certain that it would end disastrously, and certain that it had to be done.

***

Later that night, Bulma was still reveling in the fact that Vegeta cared about her. She sat atop her bed, trying to suppress the giddiness that she'd been feeling all day.

_Why does it matter that Vegeta cares about me? _she thought. _I must be suffering from post-breakup lunacy_.

Her mind continued to linger on Vegeta, however. She began thinking of their almost-kiss, and a surge of excitement welled up within her. She tried to dismiss it, telling herself she was just being superficial—she had to admit, Vegeta was both more toned and more muscular than Yamcha ever was.

The thought of Vegeta's body caused her to blush profusely, and she searched her room, as if paranoid that she'd expressed her thoughts aloud and someone else had heard.

As it turned out, someone _was_ there. Vegeta was standing in her doorway, eyeing her inquisitively, and the shock of his unannounced appearance nearly made her yelp in surprise.

"Vegeta! What are you doing in here?" she seethed, getting up from her bed and walking over to him so that they were about a foot away from each other.

He cocked his head to the side, his eyes squinting at her, as if he were evaluating her appearance.

"Did you just call me Vegeta?" he asked.

Bulma raised an eyebrow. "Umm, yes, that's your name. And I'm Bulma, and this is Capsule Corporation, this is where we live here on the planet Earth."

"We live together, huh?" he said, and he looked overly-satisfied about the fact.

Bulma nodded slowly. "Are you alright?" she asked skeptically.

Vegeta smirked. "I'm fine. I have a beautiful woman standing right here in front of me, what more could a man ask for?"

Bulma was taken aback by the bluntness of his statement. "What? Did you just say—what?"

The warrior furrowed his brows. "Is it something I said?"

Bulma shook her head. "No, it's just… I mean, thank you, but… you've never said anything like that before. It's… strange."

Vegeta shrugged. "Then I must be a very foolish human." His eyes slowly drifted from her face and moved on to other things…

"Vegeta, are you sure you're alright? You just called yourself a human…" Bulma asked quizzically. His eyes were smoldering as he shamelessly let his eyes wander, lingering on the more tantalizing aspects of her body.

Even though she was wearing a sweater, Bulma felt naked. His gaze was making her uncomfortable in a way she could not identify. This just wasn't like him.

"Vegeta, what—" she began, but she didn't get a chance to finish her statement. In one swift movement, Vegeta closed the space between them and covered her mouth with his own.

He kissed her violently, not passionately, and he held her against his rock hard body with so much force, bruises began forming where his fingers now clasped around her arms. He pried her mouth open with his tongue, sucking and pulling on her lower lip until it stung. This was nothing like Bulma imagined it would be… it hurt. It was wrong.

She put her hands against his chest and pushed, hard, but he didn't budge. He did pull his mouth away from hers for one moment, however, long enough for her to yell, "VEGETA, STOP IT! You're hurting me…" But he was relentless. His mouth locked on hers once more, and his fingers dug deeper into her fragile skin.

Amidst Bulma's struggles to release herself from Vegeta's vice grip, she heard a voice ring out from the bottom of the staircase.

"Woman, what's wrong?"

Bulma shook with confusion. The voice she heard sounded like Vegeta's, but how was that possible when his mouth was currently assaulting her own?

As footsteps approached her bedroom door, Vegeta finally pulled his mouth from Bulma's and relaxed his grip slightly. His body was still facing her, but his head was cocked to the side, a cruel smirk on his face as he anticipated the arrival of the newcomer.

"Oh, who could this be?" he drawled. For the first time, Bulma noticed something off about Vegeta's voice. He sounded more raspy, more sinister. It made her skin crawl. He felt her shudder and turned to look at her, that cruel smirk still gracing his features.

Bulma gasped. His eyes were unnaturally bright, and they seemed to glow eerily red as they reflected the dying sunlight.

_What happened to you? _Bulma thought. _Why are you so evil?_

Vegeta chuckled. "Oh, evil is such a strong word. I prefer morally challenged."

Bulma's eyes widened. His voice was unearthly. It wasn't _his_. And did he just read her mind?

Suddenly, the doorknob turned, and a gloved hand pushed Bulma's door open as its owner peaked his flame-haired head inside her bedroom.

The color in Bulma's face completely drained away when she saw who it was.

"VEGETA!?"

***

**A/N: **Oooh, what's going on here? TWO VEGETAS? That's every fan girl's dream. R&R please! I'm excited about the chapters to come… sorry I left it here, but cliffhangers can be such a persuasive tool in the fine art of getting people to review :P I'll update soon, now that I'm on winter break I'll have nothing else to do. Thanks to all my reviewers so far! Enjoy!


	8. Doppelgangland

-1**A/N: **Uhh… sorry. I don't really have an excuse, I've just been exhausted working off debt. These are tough times ya'know. My writer's block is gone now, so here you go, a little update. I'm not making any promises on when the next chap will be up, but it _will _be up at some point. I don't abandon stories.

**Disclaimer: **Borrowed the title for this chapter from an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I'm not affiliated with it in any way, nor DBZ for that matter.

___

**Chapter 8: **Doppelgangland

___

"VEGETA!?"

For a moment, Bulma was sure she was dreaming. Normally, a dream that involved two Vegetas might not be so bad, but in this case… she was willing to make an exception.

The "evil" Vegeta was still standing in front of her, his back to her now, facing the "good" Vegeta with a disquieting smirk upon his face.

"Good" Vegeta looked as frozen in time as Bulma felt. He appraised his other self with shock and curiosity, and Bulma could not help the shiver that crawled up her spine at his behavior. She knew from experience that it took a lot to catch Vegeta off guard.

Her breath caught in the back of her throat when "evil" Vegeta began to speak, and she was more sure than ever that the man standing in front of her was not the Vegeta she knew.

"You must be Prince Vegeta," his doppelganger said, enunciating the name slowly, as if to emphasize his familiarity with the Saiyan prince. Vegeta's eyes widened for a moment, but quickly narrowed into their usual condescending glare.

"Yes, that's me. Looks like you've got a bit of an identity crisis though," Vegeta said. His body was tense, his back slightly arched as if he expected a battle at any second.

His twin didn't seem interested in fighting, however. His smirk deepened. "Yes, you're right. Every one of my species seems to have that problem, or don't you remember? Oh, but you couldn't remember. You were just a boy the last time I saw you." He seemed to be musing to himself now, but quickly refocused. "Tell me…" He began. "How is good old Planet Vegeta?"

Vegeta growled-- a low, guttural sound-- and his battle stance became more defined. "Who are you?" he said.

The "evil" Vegeta replied with a transformation-- it happened so fast Bulma could hardly follow it, and suddenly, the likeness of Vegeta had faded into the horrible visage of a monster. He was now towering over both her and Vegeta by about one or two feet, his eyes glowing red (not a reflection of the sunlight, as Bulma originally thought). He was reptilian in appearance, with dark blue scales covering the parts of his body that were visible underneath the long black cloak he wore. He stood pin-straight, however, and his facial features were more human-esque than alien.

"Rakasha!" Vegeta hissed after taking in the creature's appearance. Bulma felt herself begin to panic in light of Vegeta's reaction-- was that intimidation she was seeing on his face?

"Vegeta!" she cried, breaking her stunned silence. The Saiyan prince's gaze-- only his gaze-- snapped to her face, and he gritted his teeth. "Woman, get out of here!" he commanded.

The creature shook his head in protest and held Bulma back once again with his strong grip. She nearly gagged-- his skin looked scaly, but it felt closer to slimy than anything.

"The female is staying with me. We have already become very well acquainted," the creature said-- Rakasha, as Vegeta had called him. Bulma was sure she was going to vomit now.

Vegeta shrugged. "Fine, keep the woman. Just leave this planet, trust me when I say it isn't yours for the taking, nor worth the trouble."

Rakasha chuckled, and Bulma felt his body vibrate against her skin. She felt the sting of Vegeta's words a little more noticeably.

"Any planet is mine for the taking! I know you remember that," he said with a knowing grimace. "But… I'm not as interested in this planet now as I am about you and the origins of your other little friends. How is it that you found such strong warriors amongst the weaklings of this planet?"

"I'm not telling you anything! I'll be the one asking questions," Vegeta said. "Why else would you be here if not to seize the planet?"

Rakasha answered without hesitation. "I might be willing to make a trade. You, and that other warrior-- the one you fight in the woods with-- join us. We will spare this planet."

Vegeta seemed taken aback by Rakasha's request as Bulma became increasingly confused. It was obvious that Vegeta knew this creature from his past, but the details of this creature, and his physical abilities, were an anomaly.

"You know," Rakasha began, when Vegeta didn't answer him. "When we first targeted this planet, and I sensed your energy, I didn't recognize you at first. But… I have been observing you for many weeks, Prince Vegeta, and then it came back to me. King Vegeta's boy. Your father was a wise man. It would be a wise decision to join us. Don't be a fool."

Vegeta was gritting his teeth so hard it looked like his jaw might break. "If you remember me, then you know I don't kneel to lesser beings," he spoke threateningly, though it was painfully obvious he was fronting for the sake of his pride.

Rakasha sighed. "Very well," he said. "We'll do this the hard way. You and the other warrior will join us, this planet will be ours, and…" His vicious gaze slid suddenly to Bulma. "It would be a shame to destroy such a thing. I'll take the female too."

Rakasha put two fingers to his forehead, but before he disappeared with Bulma in tow, he locked eyes with Vegeta.

"I'll see you soon," he promised.

He was gone an instant later, leaving Vegeta alone in Bulma's room to draw the only conclusion he could: "I need to find Kakkarot."

___

Vegeta blasted through the night sky in the direction of Goku's house. He wasn't sure how long it was going to take to find Rakasha's whereabouts-- the creature was masking his energy, and the energies of his minions. Vegeta cursed under his breath. He wasn't used to his past literally coming back to haunt him-- it was only in his nightmares that he preferred to relive his darker days.

He was glad to see, once Goku's house came into view, that the lights were still on inside. Not that he didn't mind waking up the home's inhabitants-- it was the impossibility of getting Goku to wake that he feared.

"KAKKAROT!" Vegeta yelled upon forceful entry of the Son home. In his hurried state, he forgot about the other thing he had to fear-- Chi-Chi. She came barreling out of the kitchen and into the living room where Vegeta now stood.

"DO YOU MIND, BUDDY?" she screamed, and Vegeta grimaced in pain despite himself. "MY LITTLE BOY IS TRYING TO STUDY! HOW CAN YOU EXPECT HIM TO GO TO COLLEGE WHEN YOU COME IN HERE SCREAMING AND SHOUTING IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS STUDIES?"

"Try asking yourself that, you crazy bitch!" Vegeta retorted. "Tell me where Kakkarot is!"

"GOKU!" Chi-Chi began. "I haven't seen that man for hours! Good luck finding him, and when you do, tell him not to come home, because he is not welcome tonight!"

With that, Chi-Chi stormed away and Vegeta was still at square one. As he left the Son home, he had to ask himself why he expected any different an interaction with that particular earthling.

___

An hour passed, during which Vegeta checked and rechecked Goku's training grounds, and still no sign of the younger Saiyan. He began to wonder if Rakasha and his minions had reached Goku first.

During his search, Vegeta begrudgingly allowed his thoughts to stray to Bulma, and he wondered-- with a shudder of disgust-- what Rakasha had planned for her. He also thought about the disappointment in her face when he'd told the creature he didn't care what happened to her. With dismay, he silently admitted to himself that he cared more than he ought to, and much more than he was comfortable with under the current circumstances. Something he would never admit aloud.

An energy spike ripped Vegeta from his thoughts suddenly, and he reflexively moved towards its location as quickly as his flying abilities would allow. He reached the source of the spike moments later, and he was uncharacteristically relieved to see the back of his rival's orange gi.

"Kakkarot!" Vegeta said. "We have a problem."

Goku didn't move, or acknowledge Vegeta's words-- his back remained facing Vegeta as the Saiyan prince felt the annoyance and agitation already built up within him strengthen.

"Kakkarot, listen to me, there are space pirates here, they've come for this planet!" Not that he cared so much about the fate of the planet as he did the fate of his freedom… and, maybe, one particular earthling.

When Goku still failed to respond, Vegeta grabbed his shoulder forcefully and spun the younger Saiyan around so that their gazes were locked together.

Goku's red, glowing eyes glinted supernaturally against the moon light.

___

**A/N: **Any confusion you might have will be cleared up in the next chapter… Vegeta will explain everything, as soon as he's done kicking Goku's ass. Yes, that's right-- he finally gets to kick Goku's ass. Someone that looks like Goku, anyway. So look forward to that. Btw, Vegeta called Chi-Chi a crazy bitch because it needed to be said, and he was the only one who could get away with saying it.


	9. Revelations

-1**Disclaimer: **Pwned.

___

**Chapter 9 - Revelations**

___

"Wow, Piccolo, you _have_ been training... I actually broke a sweat!" Goku said as he wiped his brow of the tiny droplets of perspiration that threatened to slide down his face.

Piccolo finally relaxed from his fighting stance after sparring with Goku for a good thirty minutes. "Thanks, Goku. Making you sweat is one of my greater pleasures in life."

(**A/N: **Just imagine a very awkward pause right about here.)

"Well, I should get home before Chi-Chi decides to throw me out again," Goku said. He parted ways with the Namek and used instant tranmission to transport himself into his living room.

Goku sensed something was wrong immediately.

Chairs were overturned in both the living room and dining room, a pot of water on the stove was boiling furiously, and the television was playing to itself. A grave feeling overcame Goku as he instinctually rushed towards Gohan's room. He feared that his young son was injured, but the reality was far worse. A quick scan of their life forces told Goku that Chi-Chi and Gohan were gone. And not by choice.

___

Vegeta stared into Goku's red orbs in disbelief. "Kakkarot--" He caught himself. The unnatural tinge in Goku's eyes was Vegeta's signal that he had stumbled upon an imposter. He backed up slightly, though not out of fear. He needed more room to dip into a fighting stance.

"Rakasha, if that's you again..." Vegeta paused. "No, it couldn't be. You're significantly weaker than he is. Tell me--"

The imposter cut him off.

"Rakasha is at the ship with his new female." Every hair on Vegeta's body bristled uncontrollably at Bulma's mention. Goku's doppelganger didn't seem to notice, and continued, "I'm here to offer you one final warning... join us... or--"

"I am not going to play your game!" Vegeta barked. "I know how your kind is. You don't make deals. And you're sadly mistaken if you think a Saiyan would back out of a fight just to avoid a minor discrepancy like this planet's death or that woman's kidnapping. You think I care?"

The imposter smirked viciously-- an alarmingly unnatural look on Goku's usually cheery visage.

"Yes, I heard about Planet Vegeta. I suppose you're used to your planets being destroyed by now, eh, Prince Vegeta?"

That was all the provocation he needed. Vegeta grabbed a large handful of the imposter's hair and slammed his head downward until his face cracked against Vegeta's knee.

The force of this attack alone was enough to bring Goku's imposter out of his disguise. On the ground before Vegeta now lay a creature that looked much like Rakasha, only wearing dark purple battle armor and noticeably shorter. He recovered quickly however, and assumed his Goku disguise once more.

_He must think that I'll go easier on Kakkarot than I would him. HA! _Vegeta thought, side-smirking.

He was still in his battle stance, waiting for a counterattack from Rakasha's warrior. It never came. Vegeta sneered and launched forward again, punching the warrior repeatedly in his gut and face. He made some feeble attempts to dodge Vegeta's attacks, but the prince's senses were keen as ever. Training in 300 times Earth's gravity had done wonders for his reflexes.

Goku's twin fell to the ground once Vegeta's barrage of attacks subsided. He made a few attempt to rise to his feet, but his energy seemed to give out each time. Finally, he crumbled into a heap on the forest floor, looking defeated and frustrated, as if he wasn't used to being beaten.

Vegeta scoffed. "Why would Rakasha send you? I should be insulted... there are humans on this planet stronger than you are!"

Rakasha's minion chuckled. Vegeta narrowed his eyes suspiciously, and then a wave of realization washed through him.

"You're a distraction." It was more of a statement than a question. The doppelganger continued chuckling.

"You could say that..." he said hoarsely. "While you were wasting your time with me, the other Saiyan's female and his halfling son were taken to the ship..."

The beaten warrior seemed taken aback when Vegeta began laughing. "Oh, is that all?"

At that moment, Goku and Piccolo appeared in the clearing via instant transmission.

"Kakkarot, so good of you to join us," Vegeta said sarcastically without turning away from Rakasha's minion.

"What's going on?" Goku asked. "Chi-Chi and Gohan are missing, Piccolo and I were searching for them when we felt your energy increase..." He trailed off when he noticed his twin. He took one look at the imposter and said, "OH! I GET IT!"

Piccolo and Vegeta were both taken aback by Goku's apparent enthusiasm under these grave circumstances.

"Yeah! This is a dream!" Goku exclaimed happily, pointing to the beaten warrior. "It has to be. 'Cause Vegeta beat me, see? That's not possible in real life!"

Piccolo groaned and Vegeta rolled his eyes, despite the insult. "Kakkarot, the evidence that you were dropped on your head as a child keeps piling up every day."

Vegeta walked up to Goku's twin and delivered one swift kick to his side. The warrior finally lost hold on his disguise and returned to his true form.

Goku's eyes widened. "Oh, I see..." Suddenly, he became more frantic. "That means Gohan and Chi-Chi really are missing! Does this guy know where they are?"

Vegeta nodded. "I believe so. They are on a ship…"

Goku's walked over to Rakasha's minion and kneeled down beside him. "What's your name?" he asked in a mock-pleasant tone.

The beaten warrior stared at Goku suspiciously, one eye open, but answered, "I am General Kaizoku, leader of the Rakashan army…" His voice was weak, and he trailed off as his energy faded fast.

Goku, Vegeta, and Piccolo raised an eyebrow at his speech. He had been so easily beaten, it made little sense why he would be chosen as the leader of any army. Goku and Piccolo suspected that the Rakashans were a generally weak race, but Vegeta knew better.

Goku leaned in closer to Kaizoku. "I need to know where my family is. Can you help me out with that?"

Kaizoku's body began writhing in response to Goku's questions and he took a giant heave-- and spit bright blue liquid (Rakashan saliva) into Goku's face. The young Saiyan backed off, wiping his face in disgust. "Ugh, that stings!" he exclaimed.

"Do not think that you can get me to betray my army by patronizing me!" Kaizoku said icily.

Vegeta and Piccolo were stunned as Goku's hair flashed gold and his face contorted threateningly. The tension and worry that permeated his body caused him to shake violently and he began to transform. What was left of Kaizoku's spit disintegrated in the midst of Goku's emanating energy.

"Please," Goku begged. "Tell me where my family is."

Rakasha's minion was unfazed by Goku's transformation and the ominous trepidation in his voice. Goku reverted to his normal state, unwilling to beat the information out of the already beaten warrior. It was Piccolo's turn.

His approach was much more hands-on.

He picked Kaizoku up by his battle army and threw him against a nearby tree, demanding to know where the ship was. Kaizoku broke out into feeble chuckles. "My body is crushed… there is no greater pain to inflict upon me now. You'll have to do--" he coughed violently "--better than that."

"That's true," said Piccolo. "You see, here on Earth we have something called the senzu bean. It heals the body completely, makes it good as new. I could give you one of those beans." Goku and Vegeta began to protest but Piccolo held his hand up. "I could give you one of those beans… and beat you into the ground all over again. And I'll keep doing it until you tell us where that ship is." The look on Piccolo's face told Kaizoku that he was dead serious.

Finally, Rakasha's warrior began to show some fear-- but he was too stubborn, or too loyal to back down. He kept his mouth shut and glared back at Piccolo.

Vegeta decided at that moment to cut in. "Don't fool yourself, Namek. You won't get him to yield that way," he said, then added darkly, "Torture is really my forté."

___

"This is perfect. Just perfect. _Eff_ my life," Bulma muttered from within the confines of a tiny 10x10 jail cell. When Rakasha used instant transmission to bring her to his ship, the first thing he did was take her to this chamber-- though it was more like a harem-- and asked a few of his 'maids' to "improve her appearance." Bulma had resisted, of course, and tried to get away-- hence the jail cell. Now she sat upon elegantly cushioned seats wearing what resembled a fancy sequined bathing suit.

"I feel like Princess Leia," she spoke aloud to herself. She'd been alone now for several hours. Every minute that passed she feared would bring her closer to whatever Rakasha had planned for her, and that wasn't hard to guess given the way she was dressed.

Besides being a jail cell, however, there was nothing particularly murky about Bulma's surroundings. They were grandiose, if anything. The cushions upon which she sat were velvety to the touch, and the room was well lit. Everything was soft, or looked it-- the ceiling, the floor, the walls. Even the bars to her jail cell were covered in a silky material.

"Who knew misshapen creeps liked to live in style…"

The most unpleasant thing about her surroundings was the other jail cells, which contained females from a variety of exotic species-- all beautiful and miserable, strung out lazily on their cushions and barely moving. Bulma didn't want to end up like them. She shuddered.

Suddenly, an extremely loud, agonizing wail of pain filled Bulma's ears and a figure crashed through the walls of the chamber into another jail cell three cells down from Bulma's.

She shrieked in terror and ducked underneath the pillows and cushions, as if to shield herself from the wreckage. Fortunately, the debris did not reach her. Moments later, Rakasha came into the chamber via the hole he had created when he threw his victim.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE TOLD THEM WHERE THE SHIP WAS?" Rakasha boomed.

His bloodied minion picked himself out of the wreckage, cradling his left arm as if it were broken, and replied, "I-I saw him-- I watched like you told me to-- Kaizoku-- he told them-- I-I couldn't stop him. The Saiyan Prince he was… he was…"

Rakasha pointed his finger at the broken warrior and a bright orange beam erupted from it. Once it made contact with the warrior's armor, he exploded theatrically into millions of nearly microscopic pieces. His remains floated through the air like dust and settled on the floor soon after. Bulma felt herself retch in pure disgust and horror.

Rakasha scoffed and left the chamber-- clearly too angry to divulge in anything pleasurable, for he paid no attention to the women in his harem.

Bulma breathed a short sigh of relief, and shuddered at the thought of the jail cell that had been crushed when Rakasha threw his minion through the wall. She was sure it had been previously occupied…

She wondered for a moment when Goku was coming to save her. She'd been there for nearly four hours, and now she knew was that someone had told him where the ship was. Things were looking up.

Then something occurred to Bulma. Rakasha's minion hadn't said anything about Goku… It was the "Saiyan Prince" he had mentioned. Bulma started. _Vegeta! He's coming to save me!_

She felt her chest swell with emotion-- the last person she expected to save her was him. Her disbelief was so great that she doubted the notion as soon as it she was foolish enough to consider it. She remembered his exchange with Rakasha before she was kidnapped. Rakasha was threatening to enslave Vegeta, make him part of the team, as it were. He was probably just coming here to eliminate the threat to his freedom… he would probably leave her behind and destroy the ship while she was still on it.

Bulma sighed and leant up against the jail bars. They were soft. Too soft. Jokingly, Bulma moved to put her hands around them and pull them apart. They bent. She was surprised to find that the bars were not only covered in silky material—they were composed of it. _I must be the strongest girl in here, if nobody else can escape…_ Bulma thought smugly, though she couldn't imagine how anyone could be so weak that they would not be able to pull the bars apart.

Taking a few furtive glances at her surroundings to make sure nobody of importance had seen her escape, she slipped out of the jail cell and through the hole Rakasha had created.

___

It didn't take long to find the Rakashan ship once Kaizoku spilled the beans. Goku formed the image of the ship in his mind and transported himself, Vegeta, and Piccolo to the site via instant transmission.

"Rakasha couldn't have picked a more conspicuous place to hide his ship," Piccolo muttered. "We could have found this without Kaizoku's help."

Vegeta grunted in agreement. The ship-- which must have been the size of a football field-- sat in an open clearing, surrounded by hills and grass. No civilians were within at least fifty miles, but the ship would be easily visible from an aircraft flying overhead. Plus, its size made it an eyesore.

Goku bounded forward, his eyes locked on the ship, but Piccolo grabbed his shoulder and held him back. "Wait, Goku, you idiot! You have no idea what you're running into," he warned. He turned to Vegeta.

"Are you familiar with these creatures at all?" Piccolo asked. Vegeta rolled his eyes. The Namek had a bothersome talent for picking up on the tiniest of nuances. He must have sensed Vegeta's familiarity with the species simply from the way in which he interacted with Kaizoku.

"Yes. They are space pirates," Vegeta said matter-of-factly. Piccolo and Goku perked up.

"Like the Saiyans were?" Goku said.

Vegeta gritted his teeth. "Only like Saiyans in that they use brute strength to make a profit by commandeering planets. But… they have other motivations…" he said. "They steal abilities. This is how they got into piracy… if the planet they steal has nothing to offer, they sell it off. If it does… they steal the abilities of the beings living on it. I believe they have stolen what you call instant transmission." Vegeta directed the last sentence at Goku, and the younger Saiyan frowned.

"Does that mean they destroyed the Yardrats?"

Vegeta nodded. "That is the likeliest outcome. They destroy every planet they come into contact with that can't be sold off… or that serves no further use."

"And how is it you know so much about them?" Piccolo asked.

"They came to my planet once. They wanted to steal it, only to discover my people were in the same line of business. They… negotiated with my father. We joined forces for many years…"

"What abilities have they stolen? Besides the obvious…"

"Shape-shifting, as you saw. Instant transmission. Mind reading. Anything else they have acquired throughout the years I either do not know, or do not find particularly threatening…"

"I don't see how you could find them threatening at all," Piccolo said. "That Kaizoku guy was barely stronger than Tien or Yamcha, he didn't even get a punch in."

Vegeta narrowed their eyes. "It is their king, Rakasha, you should be worried about. He is a powerful being. The Rakashans did not succeed in taking my planet, but their king forced my father to form an unwanted alliance with his people for decades."

"You say Rakasha is strong," Piccolo said. "But how much stronger can a king be from his general?"

When Vegeta spoke, it was with utmost disgust and disrespect. "The only reason the Rakashans were able to force my father into submission is because they stole our energy, the same way they steal and duplicate abilities. When I faced Rakasha earlier today--"

Goku cut him off. "You faced him? Did he beat you?"

Vegeta shook his head angrily. "Kakkarot, you idiot--do I look beaten to you? He was trying to persuade me to rejoin his army. He obviously did not succeed. And then he used instant transmission, took the woman, and--"

"HE HAS BULMA, TOO?"

"STOP INTERRUPTING ME, KAKKAROT! And yes, he has the woman…"

The first question that came to Goku's mind at this point was why Trunks hadn't warned him about the Rakashans. A perennial fear that Trunks' time travel mission had somehow thrown their destinies in an alternate direction swarmed through Goku's head momentarily, but he dismissed it at once. This concern wasn't exactly something he could voice aloud.

"Anyway, as I was saying," Vegeta began again. "Rakasha was significantly stronger than he ever was before when I saw him today… he must have taken all of the energy from his strongest warriors for his confrontation with me, out of fear I would destroy him. Then he sent that weakling Kaizoku as a distraction while his other minions kidnapped Kakkarot's woman and child. I suspect Kaizoku was not always so weak… Rakasha must have drained him."

"Wait, do you think they took Gohan to steal his energy? Does it kill him?" Goku asked frantically. Vegeta shook his head.

"It doesn't kill. And after a few hours the energy boost wears off," he said.

Piccolo interrupted with another question. "How exactly do they steal energy? And abilities?"

A flicker of apprehension passed through Vegeta's normally stoic expression as he replied, "If I told you that, Kakkarot would give away our position."

"Why is that?" Piccolo asked as Vegeta grew annoyed with his persistence. He took a deep breath and replied, "Because if I told you, I do not believe anything would stop him from transforming and ripping apart every Rakashan in sight."

___

Bulma had been an official escapee for about ten minutes before she realized she had no idea how to get off the ship. There were no doors-- only sweeping, windowless metallic hallways, inside which she was enormously exposed.

_Of course there's no doors. Who needs doors when you have instant transmission? _She thought. _I have to figure out a way to hide myself, someone could appear in this hallway at any second._

The last thing she wanted to do was draw attention to herself. If Rakasha remembered she was there, who knew what could happen…

As if on cue, one of Rakasha's minions IT'd into the middle of the hallway directly in front of her, with his back to her. He was deeply engrossed in a thick notebook he held in his hands, a white lab coat stretched across his broad form.

Feeling panicked, Bulma looked around for a curtain, a pillar, anything to hide behind, but realized she had no other option but to run. Or stay exactly where she was.

_Maybe if I just stand here he'll go away… maybe he won't turn around…_

She held her breath in quiet desperation as her thoughts lingered back to the moments before she was abducted-- and it struck her. Rakasha had read her mind at one point.

_Shit. They can read minds. Shit. Shit. Shut up! He's going to read your mind! STOP THINKING! Oh shit, I'm thinking too loud…_

Bulma tried desperately to hide her thoughts, but that was just the problem-- hiding them required a certain amount of concentration, of _thought_.

Fortunately for her, Rakasha's minion was far too distracted by his paperwork to notice. He began walking further down the hallway, and Bulma began feeling relieved, until she sensed that someone was walking towards her from behind. She turned her head slowly, almost afraid to see what was coming-- more minions. These wore dark purple armor. But they hadn't seen her yet, and Bulma quickly scurried along down the winding hallway, walking quietly behind the minion in the lab coat. He stopped in front of a room with a window and disappeared inside using instant transmission.

The window was the only one Bulma had seen yet on the ship, and it emanated an eerie, neon green light. She felt herself drawn to look inside. As she approached the window, however, a feeling of dread began slowly crawling through her skin.

Slowly, almost timidly, Bulma raised herself up on her toes and peeked inside the window. She could not help but release a gut wrenching sob at the sight.

The last thing she remembered seeing were the terrified, tortured faces of Krillen, Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, Gohan, and Chi-Chi…

And then everything went black.

___

**A/N: **Semi-long chapter, I had fun writing it actually. If you have any questions, ask me in a review and I'll address it… I tried to make it as clear as possible but I know how an introduction of new characters can confuse people. Just so you know, there's probably about… five chapters or so left in this story. I am working on another idea, it should come to fruition in the near future. Until then, I really hope you enjoy this story, it really developed from where I had it going originally, away from the traditional B/V and towards a more… theatrical approach. Anyways, R&R! And thanks as always to my faithful reviewers.


	10. Collateral

**Disclaimer:** I absolutely positively definitely probably possibly maybe don't own Dragonball Z. Perhaps if I did I wouldn't be writing to you from the desktop of my office job.

___

**Chapter 10:** Collateral

___

"Vegeta, why aren't you masking your ki?" Goku asked quizzically. The two Saiyans and Piccolo were still perched in their hiding place, the Rakashan space ship in full view.

Vegeta growled with annoyance and replied, "They can only sense energy when someone is powering up. Now stop it with all the blasted questions before _I _power up."

Goku shrugged. "Geez Vegeta, what's the big deal? I really don't see why you're so keyed up, these guys don't look so tough…"

Piccolo eyed Vegeta apprehensively. He had no idea why Vegeta was approaching the situation with such careful strategy, but he knew whatever the reason, it must have been a good one to stop the usually hotheaded Saiyan prince from blasting the Rakashans into oblivion. And unbeknownst to Goku, Vegeta was hiding a terrible secret from them both. Something that, according to Vegeta, was enough to make Goku snap. And since this terrible secret involved whatever the Rakashans were doing to Gohan… it went without saying, Piccolo was very concerned.

_Vegeta_, Piccolo said, communicating with the Saiyan telepathically. _What's the plan?_

Vegeta didn't turn to Piccolo, but simply answered back with his thoughts. _Infiltration. I'm trying to find the precise location of their laboratory. I can't sense Kakkarot's boy or his woman at all… but I know that's where they are. I'm trying to track their energy signals, but I keep getting interrupted with your damn questions!_

_What are they doing to them in there? _Piccolo asked, his concern growing by the minute.

_Taking their energy. Storing it for the battle ahead_, Vegeta answered.

_And how exactly do they take energy?_

_This is the thing I do not want Kakkarot to know. And since you also have a connection with the boy, I'm not positive you want to know either. It is absolutely vital that we enter the ship without them seeing us, otherwise we will end up in the same situation._

_Try me_.

_Very well…_

Vegeta detailed the energy-stealing process to Piccolo. The Namekian's eyes grew wide as Vegeta's explanation progressed, and his mouth hung slightly opened when Vegeta finished.

_Well, Namek? Now do you understand the situation at hand? Or are you going to keep bombarding me with useless questions?_

It took Piccolo a few moments of recovery to reply. _No. No more questions. We need to take action immediately._

_We will. Just as soon as I locate… _Vegeta paused. Was that Bulma's energy he just sensed? How was it that her ki was more prominent than Gohan's? Now that wasn't a good sign.

Piccolo was growing more agitated by the second. If what Vegeta said was true… he internally shuddered at the thought. And all the while Goku stood oblivious, watching with Vegeta for a chance to get inside the Rakashan spaceship without the guard posted out front noticing.

At that moment, the guard perked up and began looking around frantically, as if a sound alerted him to some impending danger. The source of his sudden movement was soon revealed as a Rakashan warrior came out of the ship, holding a limp, blue-haired human woman in his arms…

"BULMA!" Goku exclaimed, eliciting cries from both Piccolo and Vegeta for him to shut up. "Oh, sorry, guys. Hey, is she okay? She looks like she's passed out… or worse… I can't even sense her."

Vegeta shook his head. "No. I can sense her ki, it's weak, but it's there. She's waking up."

Piccolo stared intently at the warrior holding Bulma as he exchanged a few words with the guard. Something didn't feel right… there was something off about Bulma's energy signal he couldn't quite place. Perhaps she was closer to death than Vegeta and Goku thought.

He continued watching the two Rakashans. The guard nodded in acquiesce to whatever the warrior was asking of him, and the warrior dropped Bulma onto the ground unceremoniously. He was a tall creature—she must have been at least five feet above the ground when he dropped her. If she wasn't awake before, she was definitely awake now.

Vegeta's body tensed up involuntarily when her body hit the floor, but he ignored any subconscious urge he might have had to fly towards the Rakashan warrior and tear off his head. Bulma was of no concern to him, he told himself. His only goal was to infiltrate the ship, tear apart the laboratory, blow Rakasha to smithereens, and eliminate the threat to his freedom. Nothing more.

Vegeta, Goku, and Piccolo watched as Bulma came to, lifting her body up on her elbows and eyeing her surroundings wearily. She noticed the Rakashan guard and let out a tiny yelp. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME, YOU CREEP!!!" she screamed, and her voice was clearly audible from their modest hiding spot.

Goku smirked. "Yeah, she sounds alright to me," he said.

The guard barely paid attention to Bulma. His arms were crossed over his armored chest and he stood straight, barely moving. His eyes were the only part of his body making any movements at all, and they seemed to be scanning his surroundings, very, very carefully…

Bulma stood up walked straight up to the Rakashan guard. "HEL-LO?" she cried. "ARE YOU DEAF?" Again, he didn't answer and hardly moved. Bulma looked like she was getting frustrated. "Fine!" she said. "Then I guess I'm free to go."

She turned away from the guard and began walking in the opposite direction of the ship. Piccolo noticed suddenly that Vegeta's ki signal was getting more prominent—he was powering up, and Piccolo wasn't sure the Saiyan prince was completely aware of it.

As Bulma was leaving, the guard perked up at last. He had a deep grin on his face, a satisfied grin, as if he'd finally found what he was looking for. He held up his right palm, and produced a tiny red ki blast, which he aimed at Bulma as he said, "You might want to walk faster."

He released the blast.

A million things seemed to happen at once. Piccolo screamed at Bulma to get out of the way, and she looked up in his direction, spotting the three of them despite how dark it was outside. Vegeta stood immobile, watching the ki blast approach Bulma. Goku waited a split second for Vegeta to move, but the Saiyan prince remained motionless. Angrily, Goku pushed Vegeta out of his way and flew to Bulma's side, scooping her into his arms and delivering her to safety. The ki blast hit a patch of bushes, and they set fire instantly.

"You saved me!" Bulma gasped.

Vegeta and Piccolo flew down to meet Goku and Bulma soonafter.

"Well, Kakkarot, you fell for it," Vegeta said.

Goku looked up at Vegeta, his eyes narrowed at the older Saiyan. "Fell for what? Bulma was about to die! And you just stood there—"

"They were setting a trap! She was bait, Kakkarot, and now they know where we are. We're in plain goddamn sight. You're an idiot. And why shouldn't I stand by and watch the woman get blown to pieces? What concern is she to me?" Vegeta said defensively, his arms crossed. Goku shook his head, a look of disgust on his face, but he said nothing more.

"Well, I'm glad you're alright, Bulma, but Vegeta is correct. We're exposed. Now we're going to have to beat them into submission," Piccolo said. The guard had disappeared as soon as Goku saved Bulma, and there was no doubt in any of the warriors' minds that he went to alert his king.

"And let's not forget," Goku began. "That the only reason he figured out we were here was because you were powering up, Vegeta."

Vegeta looked shocked. "I was not! I have complete control over my energy—I was calm the entire time we were watching the ship—""

"Until Bulma showed up," Goku said, cutting him off. Vegeta narrowed his eyes at Goku.

"You'd do well to keep your prodding mouth shut, Kakkarot."

Bulma interrupted the bickering between Goku and Vegeta.

"Guys, for once, can you both just shut it! I saw something. Before one of those nasty creatures knocked me out, I saw…" Bulma's eyes began tearing up, and Goku waited for her to finish with a concerned look on his face. Vegeta and Piccolo already knew what she was going to say.

"They were… your son, your wife, and all our friends! They're doing… something… to them. I don't know what, but it looks like it hurts, whatever it is. They have them strapped into these… cots… I don't know…" Bulma was at a loss for words. She honestly could not explain what she had seen. "It looks like a thousand little wires are literally inside their bodies, crawling through their skin like… like bugs. Or veins. Veins… crawling in their skin… and they were all writhing in pain, it was… I can't even explain what it looked like, I can't even imagine how that feels."

By the time Bulma was finished with her explanation, Goku's body was shaking with anger. He turned to Vegeta. "Did you know about this?" he asked. "Is that how they steal energy? Is that the "technology" they use?"

Vegeta simply nodded. Goku transformed into a Super Saiyan immediately, cursing himself inwardly for letting Vegeta do the strategizing. "I'm going to save my friends. Piccolo, you coming?"

Piccolo powered up and began levitating, planning to follow Goku into the ship, when a voice boomed out across the clearing.

"Ahh, Vegeta! So glad to see you again. And your other Saiyan accomplice. The last two survivors of the Saiyan race! How tragic!"

It was King Rakasha.

"And how did you escape your cage?" the king asked, directing the question at Bulma. She simply shrunk back behind Goku, too frightened by his presence and too traumatized by what she had seen to say anything more.

Rakasha took notice of Piccolo. "You're not human," he said bluntly. He looked confused, and Piccolo was silently thankful that he did not recognize the appearance of a Namek—it meant he and his warriors hadn't pirated the new planet where his people now lived since Frieza blew up the original planet Namek.

"No matter. You look strong!" Rakasha said, smirking. "Another one for the laboratory I think."

Piccolo tensed up at Rakasha's words.

"Nobody else is going to your laboratory, Rakasha," Goku said sternly. "I'm here for my friends. You're going to release them and give them back their energy. And then you're going to get off this planet. Do you understand?"

Rakasha released a booming laugh. "Oh! Of course! Right away!" he said in between chuckles.

Goku narrowed his eyes at the king. "If you don't cooperate with me, I'll have no choice but to defeat you and force you off this planet myself."

That really made Rakasha laugh. He could hardly contain himself. "You really don't know what's going on here, do you?" he said. "There's no possible way you can beat me. I have the energy of all my men—and your friends—combined. And that is no match for any Saiyan."

Goku smirked. "That's true. But I'm no ordinary Saiyan. And anyway, how long does the energy boost last? Vegeta said it wears off eventually… all I need to do is hold on until then."

Rakasha smiled. "Yes, you're correct. But I'm a very strategic warrior, you see, Mr… what is your name again?"

"Goku."

"Right, Goku. A good warrior always thinks of all possible outcomes. A good king always ties up all his loose ends. Which is why I took collateral. Your friends and your son—" Rakasha said to Goku, then, nodding at Vegeta, he added, "And his woman."

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "I told you already—the woman's fate does not matter to me. Try again," he said.

Goku didn't give Rakasha a chance to reply. "You don't have Bulma," Goku said. "She's right he—"

Goku was going to say "here" but he was too startled as he turned around to make sure Bulma was behind him to finish his sentence. Bulma was no longer there—instead, one of Rakasha's warriors stood in the place where Bulma once was.

"What's going on?" Goku asked, unable to hide his confusion. Vegeta and Piccolo were equally confused, but the reality of the situation suddenly clicked into place.

"That wasn't Bulma," Piccolo said. "It was one of _them_ the whole time. No wonder the energy signal felt so foreign!"

Goku threw a punch at Rakasha, knocking the king back a few step,s but hardly fazing him. "Where's Bulma? Where's my son? Where are my friends?"

Rakasha chuckled. "In the laboratory, as I said. Barely holding onto life. And if you even try to attack me again, I'll personally see to it that my scientists cut the cord. On all of them."

Goku gaped at King Rakasha, shocked into silence. Then a voice in his head—Vegeta's—brought him back to the matter at hand.

_Kakkarot_, Vegeta said. _You have instant transmission. Use it to get inside the ship. Find the lab. I'll distract Rakasha._

Goku nodded, just enough to show Vegeta that he understood. Slowly he backed away from Rakasha as Vegeta stepped forward. "Your battle is with me, Rakasha," he said.

The king smiled. "Very well. Since you and your Saiyan accomplice will not join our ranks, and since you apparently have no stake in this planet or any of the people on it, then I suppose I'll have to force you. And if I can't force you… well, I'll just have to keep you as one of my lab rats."

He began to power up, and Vegeta gritted his teeth as Rakasha's energy signal became mixed with others that felt so familiar—Gohan's, Yamcha's, Tien's, Krillen's… even Chi-Chi's. Borrowed energy that didn't belong to him, and which he would not be able to sustain for much more than an hour. But there was no denying it—at this moment, Rakasha had the strength of a Super Saiyan, if not more. Vegeta hated to admit it, but he was no Super Saiyan.

He turned around to make sure Goku and Piccolo were gone—they were. That meant Goku had used instant transmission to transport both himself and Piccolo into the ship, unnoticed. Now all Vegeta had to do was hold his own until Goku got his friends to safety and then…

_No! What am I thinking! I can defeat him on my own! I'll do it for my father… and what this creature did to him. _

Vegeta began gathering his own enormous share of energy, powering up to nearly his full potential. Rakasha was not intimidated.

"Is that all? Vegeta, you're even weaker than your weakling of a father! Pathetic, really," he said. Rakasha certainly knew how to strike a chord—Vegeta lifted his palm and sent three powerful ki blasts in Rakasha's direction. Two of them bounced off the king's armor, and he swatted the third away as if it were a fly. "I'm waiting," he said, the smirk on his face growing more prominent.

Frustrated and angry, Vegeta shot forward and delivered a swift kick to Rakasha's gut. He doubled over him apparent pain, and Vegeta smirked triumphantly. But Rakasha's feigned cries of pain turned to laughter. "Ouch! What a kick! Perhaps I would have felt it had I been at my normal level of energy." He stood back up and continued mocking Vegeta.

This continued for a while—Vegeta attempted to attack Rakasha, but he wasn't fast enough to catch him. Every time he thought he had him, it turned out he was only attacking Rakasha's after-image. The king possessed such speed that Vegeta could hardly follow him with his eyes, let alone his attacks. He cursed Goku for holding back on him during their training sessions together. It had never been as difficult to catch Goku as it was to catch Rakasha, and yet their power levels were practically equal. So, Vegeta concluded, Goku had been going easy on him during their frequent spars. "Damn you, Kakkarot," he muttered.

Rakasha released a fake yawn. "I'm getting tired of playing tag. It's my turn.

___

"Are you ready to tell me how to detach my friends from these… things?" Goku asked one of Rakasha's scientists, who was slumped over against the wall of a laboratory. Piccolo had made quick work of the other two scientists, knocking them out. They only needed one conscious to release the others, after all.

The scientist shuddered, and gave in. "Very well… but please, once I release them… kill me. Before King Rakasha does."

"That can be arranged!" Piccolo snapped. He was standing in between Gohan and Yamcha's unconscious bodies. The Bulma doppelganger had done a pretty good job of authentically describing the horrible scene inside the laboratory—the wires underneath their skin really did look like veins. Dark, purple, writhing veins, sucking any ounce of energy they regained as their bodies attempted to recover. Each one of them—Tien, Yamcha, Krillen, Chiaotzu, Gohan, Chi-Chi and Bulma—were spread out across a metal cot, the vein-like wires digging into every crease of their bodies. The cuts from the wires were very shallow, and hardly bled. The only chance of death these wires presented was if they sucked away just a little too much energy. As it was, each of them was at their weakest points already.

The wires were all connected to one giant machine, which was shaped like a large pod covered in blue transparent glass. All one had to do was go inside the pod and absorb the energy the wires sucked out of their victims. The only thing that was keeping Piccolo was blowing the machine up was the fear that it would also destroy the people attached to it.

Rakasha's scientist went to work de-activating the machine. Under Goku's watchful eye, he walked over to a control panel and shut the machine down completely. The wires slowly ejected themselves from everyone's bodies and fell limply to the ground. The small cuts they left behind healed in an instant.

"How is that possible?" Goku asked, alarmed that the cuts had healed so quickly without even a senzu bean to speed the process along.

Rakasha's scientist looked somber. "We do not wish to kill any of our subjects. We keep them alive, so that they may regain their energy, and so that we may once again gather it for our own purposes. Once the wires are programmed to leave the bodies, they dispel a healing solution. Your friends should be regaining a large portion of their energy, and their consciousness, shortly. Now, please—get it over with."

The scientist braced himself for a killing blow, but Goku knocked him out with a punch and set him on top of the other two. "I won't be the one who kills you," he muttered under his breath, still too humane to harm even the most disgustingly evil of creatures.

Goku and Piccolo exchanged glances. "What should we do? Wait for them to wake up?" Goku asked. Piccolo nodded. "We might as well. It's not going to be very easy getting them out of here if they're all knocked out."

Goku agreed, and they watched as the color slowly returned to their friends' faces. Goku's thoughts were lingering on what the scientist had said.

"Do you think they have other prisoners, Piccolo? People they keep around and drain whenever they need an energy boost?"

"It's very possible, Goku. I suppose you want to save them before we destroy this ship."

Goku nodded. "Pretty much."

"You might want to check the harem…" said Bulma groggily.

"Bulma, how do you feel?" Piccolo asked her. She sat up, rubbing her back, and swung her legs over the metal cot. "I'm okay…" she answered. The listless expression on her face became suddenly alarmed. "Wait, is everyone else alright?" She looked around. They were still unconscious.

"Why did I wake up first?" Bulma asked aloud. She figured it had something to do with the fact that she had been connected to the machine the least amount of time.

The others regained consciousness soonafter. "Daddy!" Gohan cried when he saw Goku, running up to his father . "Are you alright, son?" Goku asked. The young Saiyan nodded.

"GOKU! IT TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH!" Chi-Chi yelled. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW PAINFUL IT WAS TO WATCH MY SON GET ATTACKED BY THOSE… THINGS!"

"I rescued you guys as quickly as I could. Trust me, Chi-Chi," Goku said.

"Oh man, what happened? One minute I'm at Roshi's island and the next I'm watching giant purple monsters inject me with… well, I dunno what it was, but it definitely hurt," said Krillen.

"Yeah," said Yamcha. "I was watching baseball… I mean, training… and that's all I remember. I have no idea how I ended up here."

"Well I'm glad you're all okay!" Goku said. "We're going to check out the rest of the ship for any other prisoners, and then—"

Bulma cut him off. "Wait, where's Vegeta?" she asked. _Of course he didn't come to rescue me. Ugh, what was I thinking, _she thought.

"He's fighting King Rakasha as we speak," Piccolo answered. Bulma's eyes widened. "He's fighting… that horrible creature? Wow." She smiled._ Maybe there's hope for him yet…_

___

Vegeta had been battling Rakasha for about thirty minutes. Twenty of those minutes consisted of him getting beaten into the ground.

"Have I convinced you yet, or do you insist on challenging me? It's quite sad," Rakasha said, standing over Vegeta's beaten body and feigning concern. "Oh, your leg looks broken. Here, let me fix it for you…" He slammed his heel down on the break, and Vegeta cried out with pain, coughing up a little blood on his spandex shirt. But Vegeta wasn't backing down.

"Thirty more minutes, Rakasha," Vegeta managed to say. "And then all your energy will be gone… you'll be your natural weakling self again. The way you're supposed to be." As he was saying this, Vegeta managed to lift up his upper body. "You never did have any honor. You'd rather borrow someone else's power than gain any of it on your own! You know that's the only reason my father gave in to you… because you're a thief… you stole his energy because you could never have it on your own…"

Rakasha frowned. "Yes, well, look who is talking. You can barely walk! And anyway—as soon as my energy runs out I will simply go back to the laboratory and get another energy boost, and continue to beat you until you agree to join us. Remember, your friends are still hooked up to the machine."

"Not anymore!"

Vegeta turned his head in the direction of the voice—Goku's. He was coming out of Rakasha's ship, Piccolo, Bulma, Gohan, Chi-Chi, the rest of the Z-fighters, and a whole host of other creatures of all shapes and sizes right behind him.

"WHAT? How did you get inside my ship? My guard was to alert me to second either of you even tried to enter!" Rakasha asked, visibly shaken. All of his prisoners—his energy resources—had been released.

"You're not the only one who knows instant transmission. He never even saw me. That is, until I knocked him out," Goku said with a wink. "And by my calculation, you have, what… twenty five minutes left until your energy reserves run out? Enjoy it while it lasts."

Rakasha was furious, but before he could make a move, a voice interrupted him.

"Hey, need a hand down there?"

Everyone's eyes followed the source of the voice, which came from directly above. A young man, with light lavender hair and a sword sheathed across his back, levitated mid-air.

"IT'S TRUNKS!" Goku exclaimed happily. Realizing only a split second later what he was saying, Goku clasped a hand closed over his mouth. But it was too late. Everyone—Bulma and Vegeta—heard what he said. He just revealed the name of Bulma and Vegeta's future child.

Piccolo groaned. "Oh no, Goku… not again."

___

**A/N:** Haha, yeah, that's right, a throwback to chapter one… the whole idea I based writing this story on. It kinda brings everything together, you know what I mean? It's my way of saying, "I haven't forgotten the point of this story, despite the fact that I took it in a completely different direction than originally planned." Btw, in the middle of writing this, I was booking caterings and taking orders and whatnot. Phone calls were constantly interrupting the writing process. So if anything doesn't make sense… just let me know in a review, haha. Still, a job where you can write a full chapter without anybody to tell you otherwise… I pretty much hit the jackpot of jobs in this economy. REVIEW PLEASE! I love you guys for sticking with me and reading. Have a great day!


	11. Something to Fight For Part 1

**Disclaimer: **I don't own DBZ. And after seeing Dragonball: Evolution, I'm kinda glad I don't. I'd be embarrassed.

***

**Chapter 11: **Something to Fight For (Part 1)

***

Piccolo groaned, massaging the tension out of his temples. The rest of the gang were gathered around Trunks, who shot one discerning look at Goku and landed.

"Did he say Trunks?" Bulma asked, directing the question at the young man now standing before her. Trunks blushed ever-so-subtly and said, "Uhh… no, Goku misheard me when I told him my name the first time we met. My name is… Trent."

Bulma nodded. "Yeah, I figured. Trunks is a Briefs family name, I can't imagine any one outside the family has ever heard of it…"

Trunks smiled sheepishly.

"You--boy--why are you here?"

The voice belonged to Vegeta. Trunks was taken aback by his father's abruptness, and he struggled to remain stoic in the face of the father he never knew.

"I--well, I came to warn you about Rakasha, but it looks like… I'm too late," he admitted, shooting a glance at the king whom, until now, everybody seemed to have forgotten about.

"Yeah, I'll say! Boy, _Trent_, your timing was really off this time!" Goku said nervously, putting a little too much emphasis on Trunks' temporary name. He looked pleased that his little "slip up" had blown over so fast, and that everyone seemed to have accepted that he had been simply mispronouncing Trunks' real name.

Trunks nodded, and the inescapable blush on his cheeks remained ever-present. He turned to Bulma again, and the sheepish look on his face morphed into one of concern. "Are you… okay?" he asked hesitantly, and the way he said it put Bulma on edge immediately.

"I feel okay. Why? Should I not be?" she replied, her eyebrows raised curiously.

Trunks shook his head. "Nevermind…"

Vegeta narrowed his eyebrows at the strange Saiyan Halfling he had not yet identified as his son. He knew from the boy's tone and body language that he was hiding something. He could not trust this lavender-haired Super Saiyan. He did not understand where his power came from, or how it was possible, and Vegeta was not one to trust something he could not understand.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't warn you guys when I visited you last year, but… to be honest, my mother didn't tell me about the Rakashan invasion until very recently. I didn't know at the time," Trunks explained.

Goku shrugged. "It's alright. Obviously we're going to beat this guy, otherwise none of us would have made it to fight the Androids, as we did in your future… right?"

Trunks nodded. "Yes, and in my time, you were already dead by the time they invaded, so we defeated the army without you."

Goku raised an eyebrow. "Well that's… comforting, I guess."

Piccolo cleared his throat. "What army?" he asked.

Trunks blinked. "What do you mean? Haven't you already defeated the army… I only see one guy standing."

A powerful feeling of dread suddenly overcame Piccolo and the rest of the Z-warriors.

"We have dealt only with Rakasha and the rest of his minions--they can hardly be considered an army. What else is there, boy?" Vegeta demanded, stepping forward so that he was mere inches away from his future son. "What are you not telling us?"

A burst of laughter suddenly interrupted the confrontation, and it came from King Rakasha's direction.

"You are all fools!" he said. The stolen power within him was almost completely diminished, yet he had never seemed so at ease. "Perhaps more useful than my people's ability to borrow energy, is the mind manipulation trick we picked up from a planet in one of the outer galaxies." He chuckled. "All I needed was for you to remain distracted long enough for me to work my magic. You probably would have killed me before I had the chance if your little purple-haired friend here hadn't arrived. I thank you for that," Rakasha said, nodding in Trunks' direction. Trunks sneered.

"What are you talking about, Rakasha?" Goku demanded.

"It was your doing, Saiyan! You released them! Now their only goal is to kill you and your pathetic friends. And they won't stop until I will them to."

Realization suddenly dawned. The so-called prisoners Goku and Piccolo had released from Rakasha's ship were all staring sinisterly at them and rest of the Z-fighters. Their eyes were blazing, aglow with a deep red. Each of them appeared to be in a hypnotic state. There was at least one hundred of them, and their energy signals ranged from the necessarily weak harem girls to the destructive prisoners that served as the Rakashans' main energy resources. All of these prisoners, which had only moments ago been willing allies of Goku and his friends, were now deadly enemies.

"Now, my warriors--attack! Show no mercy!" Rakasha demanded.

And in a flash, the army descended upon them.

***

Bulma was no fighter. Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, Gohan, Piccolo, Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu were on the offensive immediately, but Bulma--she shrunk back into the surrounding forestry and watched from a safe distance with Chi-Chi.

"This is ridiculous," Chi-Chi muttered. "Why me?"

Bulma smiled morbidly. "Oh, you know how it is. We can't lead normal lives, Chi. You're married to the strongest man in the universe. And I'm… well, I'm living with the second strongest."

Chi-Chi scoffed. "Please, Bulma, you're doing more than living with him."

Bulma raised her eyebrows at the younger woman. "Meaning… ?" _How can Chi-Chi possibly know what I do or don't do with Vegeta?_

"Come on… there's more going on with you two than meets the eye, am I right?" Chi-Chi said, smiling mischievously. Bulma blushed uncontrollably.

"I--it's not like that, well, not yet--I mean, not that it'll ever be. Jeez, Chi-Chi, I thought you considered Vegeta to be a homicidal maniac, and now you're rooting for us?"

Chi-Chi shrugged. "I know a connection when I see one."

Bulma rolled her eyes. "Hey, maybe you should join the fray," she said, changing the subject. "Do you have your frying pan? 'Cause you're a force to be reckoned with, you know, when you have that thing…"

Chi-Chi frowned. "No, I didn't bring it with me." She looked one-hundred percent serious, and Bulma suppressed a giggle. It was almost out of character for Chi-Chi to react that way when Bulma teased her, but she shrugged it off and re-focused her attention on the ensuing battle.

Yamcha had picked a fight with the weakest of the bunch, knocking out the harem girls with ease. Currently, he had a lizard-like warrior, of autonomous gender, in a headlock. Tien used his solar flare technique to disorient a large portion of the army, which made picking them off easier for Krillen, Chiaotzu, and Gohan. Luckily, most of the fighters were weaker than expected. Chiaotzu was having trouble with one warrior twice his size, but Tien rescued the young emperor, who returned the favor with a grateful smile.

Vegeta, Piccolo, Trunks, and Goku were facing the strongest of the bunch. Goku, in his Super Saiyan form, was taking on five warriors at once--all of different species, all equally lethal. He used a toned-down version of the kamehameha wave to take them out of the battle. The look on his face was grim. Obviously, Goku was trying his best not to kill any of his opponents--they were, after all, under the control of Rakasha, and were otherwise innocent beings.

The thought of Rakasha made Bulma perk up in sudden alarm, and she searched the battleground for any signs of him. He was nowhere in her line of vision, and she elbowed Chi-Chi. "Hey, have you seen that creep, Rakasha? Did you see where he went when the army attacked?"

Chi-Chi shook her head, and shot a few furtive glances around the battlefield as well. "Maybe they killed him already?" she suggested. Bulma wasn't so sure.

"If he was dead, I don't think the mind control would stick. But then again, what do I know."

Bulma's attention returned to the battle, and her eyes rested on Vegeta. He was smirking with the satisfaction of a good fight, displaying that Saiyan giddiness she had become all too familiar with throughout the years. But he wasn't killing any of his opponents either--at least, not on purpose. It was a grand departure from the Vegeta she first met on Namek, that was certain. That he was conscious enough to keep himself from killing anything unintentionally was a miracle. There was no denying--Vegeta had changed. He still had a long way to go, but he was getting there.

Bulma felt a hand on her shoulder. "Chi-Chi," she said, beginning to turn around. "Relax, they're winning!" Once she saw who had touched her shoulder, however, she gasped.

It definitely wasn't Chi-Chi.

***

"Humph!" Vegeta said, as he kicked his last unconscious opponent to the side. "That was child's play! Obviously Rakasha and his people were too weak to imprison anything strong enough to defeat me."

Goku returned to his natural form. "Yeah, and with Tru--uhh, _Trent_, here, we beat them in half the time we would have," he said. "I guess that's the advantage of being in the Super Saiyan club, eh?" He laughed and gave Trunks a high-five. Vegeta sneered in disgust and poorly-disguised envy.

Tien, Chiaotzu, Yamcha, Krillen, and Gohan gathered around, and they surveyed the damage. All of Rakasha's temporary army had been defeated. Krillen's arm was broken, Yamcha's gi was torn and tattered, and the rest of them had sustained the usual cuts and bruises--but the damage dealt to the army had been much greater. There wasn't a conscious enemy in sight.

"It looks like Rakasha may have made a run for it," Piccolo said.

Goku smirked. "Well, if that's the case, we can track him easily. But first, let's destroy his ship before he has the chance to steal anyone else's energy."

Trunks stopped him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. I saw Chi-Chi run in there when the battle started."

"Huh," said Krillen. "That's weird. I could have sworn I saw Chi-Chi and Bulma run into the forest."

Goku, Piccolo, and Vegeta exchanged suspicious glances. There was a brief moment of silence before Trunks erupted.

"Where's Bulma? I-I don't sense her anywhere near here. We have to find her! That monster, in my timeline he--he--"

Vegeta grabbed Trunks' shoulder and shoved him aside forcefully. "Spit it out, boy!"

Trunks looked down at his feet. "It's unspeakable, what he does to her. That's why I came back here. I wasn't worried that you guys would have trouble defeating the army, I was worried that…" He trailed off.

"What? What does he do to her?" Goku asked, worry etched into his features.

Trunks took a deep breath. "Well, he doesn't kill her."

Vegeta's eyes widened. Goku was still trying to decipher what Trunks was implying, but the morbidity of his tone said enough to the Saiyan Prince. He knew how power-thirsty kings functioned, what they desired--and how they took revenge out on those who defied or defeated them.

Chi-Chi chose that moment to emerge from the Rakashan ship. "Hello? Is it over?" she called out.

"Mom!" said Gohan frantically. "Have you seen Bulma?"

The confused look on Chi-Chi's face was an obvious "no."

Panic set in. Everyone began searching the battlefield thoroughly, but Bulma was nowhere to be found. Neither was Rakasha.

Trunks focused all of his energy on finding his young mother's ki signal, but it was in vain. _I can't let it happen to her again… _he thought. _She told me she was never the same after what that monster did to her. I _can't_ let it happen again, she _will_ have a better life in this timeline…_

Suddenly, Trunks realized another energy signal was missing--Vegeta's.

"Hey! Where did my fa… I mean, Vegeta, go?" Trunks cried out, but nobody could answer his question.

"That is so like Vegeta," Yamcha commented. "Skipping out on a time like this! Bulma's in danger! She has been nice enough to _shelter_ that animal all this time, and he just flies away like it's no big deal!"

"Hey Yamcha, try and reserve judgment until we find them. He might have gotten a head start on locating Rakasha," Goku said, never one to jump to negative conclusions about anyone.

Trunks grit his teeth and said privately to Goku, "In my timeline, Vegeta doesn't save her. He doesn't even try. I'm not so sure how different he can be in this one."

Goku grew more concerned at Trunks' admission, but said, "Well, I may have sped along the process a little. You know, as far as Bulma and Vegeta getting together. Unintentionally, of course. In fact, you might be born a little earlier than you were supposed to, thanks to me."

Trunks frowned. "You're going to have to explain that to me as soon as we find my mother."

"Look," said Piccolo. "Rakasha could be anywhere--on any planet. He has instant transmission, remember? We better start looking! But to be honest, I'd prepare yourselves for the worst."

"Don't worry about them being on another planet," said Trunks. "Rakasha stays on Earth. That I know for certain."

"Well that narrows the playing field significantly," said Krillen sarcastically.

"I'm going to try and locate Rakasha's energy signal. It's really weak now that he has lost all that stolen energy, but if everybody stays really quiet, I think I can do it. I'm still working out all the kinks on this instant transmission thing," Goku said.

The rest of the Z-warriors did as requested, and waited in anticipation as Goku's brows narrowed in concentration. After two grueling minutes, a look of surprise shone on Goku's face.

"Wow, I don't know if any of you guys felt that, but I just sensed an enormous energy surge, and it felt like Vegeta's! I'm guessing he found Rakasha for us. It's a start, anyway," Goku said. "Okay, Trunks, you come with me. Everyone else--keep an eye out. I wouldn't want any of Rakasha's minions waking up and attacking again."

_Father… I hope Goku was right about you… for Mom's sake… _Trunks thought. And with that, Goku transported himself and Trunks to Vegeta's location.

***

**A/N: **I'm splitting this chapter up into two parts. Why? Well if I wrote the whole thing out, everything would be resolved in one chapter… and that's quite boring. And it would be ridiculously long, and I don't tend to write extremely long chapters. Also, the end is near, and I want to drag it out as much as possible because this is going to be my first completed fic, and it's special to me! Hehe. So review please! The second half of this chapter is already half written, so your reviews may prompt me to post another chapter by next weekend. We will see! Hope you enjoyed it, and thanks for reading!


	12. Something to Fight For Part 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't own DBZ. Sue me, and I'll blast you into oblivion! Vegeta-style.

***

**Chapter 12: **Something to Fight For (Part 2)

***

Bulma Briefs awoke with a start in the most uncomfortable position imaginable. Upright, tied by her wrists to a tree branch in the middle of nowhere, shivering and starving, she blinked the sleep out of her eyes and tried to refocus them in the dark. Many hours had passed since Rakasha abducted her from her room, and she had been ready to go to sleep _then_. But getting knocked unconscious and tied up was not her idea of beauty rest.

"Ugh!" she cried in frustration, trying to break free of her bonds. "Get me out of here!"

"That's not going to happen."

The sinister voice came from a figure with two red slits for eyes—Rakasha, of course. She hadn't noticed him until then. In a flash, she remembered that his face was the last she'd seen before falling unconscious.

Bulma spat in his direction, though it didn't travel far enough to hit him. It was meant to serve a point, more than anything. Rakasha ignored her disgust.

"I see you're still wearing the outfit I gave you. It fits nicely, does it?" he asked. His voice was low and husky.

Bulma blanched and looked down at her body. _Yep_, she thought. _Still in the Princess Leia costume, alright_. When she had initially escaped from the harem in Rakasha's ship, she had found a lab coat to wrap herself in, which the king had since removed. The thought of his rough, scaly hands on her skin while she was unconscious made Bulma's stomach turn.

"Where are we?" Bulma asked, trying to keep Rakasha talking—she didn't want to know what he had planned otherwise, and she didn't want to give him a chance to do anything until someone came to save her.

"We are quite far from my ship now. Just far enough so that Vegeta won't find us, until it's too late. My energy is hidden, and yours is pitifully low, like most humans. The only way he will locate us is by searching this planet over." Rakasha seemed to take deep satisfaction in that.

Bulma's eyes widened. "A-aren't you worried what they're gonna do to you when they find you? They'll kill you if you do anything to me." She was seriously afraid now. The resolve on his face was the most unsettling thing of all. Rakasha was unfazed by Bulma's threat.

"They'll kill me, yes, I have accepted that. But at least I'll get a little taste of revenge first," he replied.

Bulma gulped.

"Really? Is that necessary? I mean, maybe if you just die peacefully you'll get out of Hell early on good behavior," she said jokingly. Rakasha ignored her attempt to keep the conversation going. He was slowly closing the gap between them. Bulma was glad it was too dark for her to see exactly what was going on.

"Wh-what makes you think Vegeta will come looking for me?" she said.

Rakasha scoffed. "Please stop trying to make me believe that you are not his mate. You were quicker to admit it when you thought I was that other Saiyan's woman. Good disguise, eh?" Rakasha replied. His voice grew deeper and more sinister as he approached.

Shivering endlessly from fear and cold, Bulma asked, "Are you going to kill me?"

Even in the dark she could make out Rakasha's evil smile. "No. But this is probably going to hurt… a lot."

Bulma squeezed her eyes shut, emitting a frightened squeal of anticipation and horror as she felt his slimy hand on her abdomen, and then…

Rakasha tensed suddenly and whipped his head around. Bulma forced her eyes open to see what had caused him such alarm. It was a bright blue aura in the distance—an aura enveloping the spiky-haired visage of Vegeta as he quickly approached.

"WHAT! HOW DID YOU FIND ME SO QUICKLY?" Rakasha bellowed furiously. Vegeta landed in front of the king with his arms crossed and eyes narrowed, staring daggers at his enemy.

"Oh, it wasn't hard. I just followed the stench of defeat," Vegeta said, cackling with victory. His eyes quickly darted to Bulma's, and his expression softened slightly. He surveyed her quickly to assess the damage, and looked satisfied that he had arrived—just in time.

Rakasha growled. "I WILL have my revenge!" he swore. Before Vegeta knew what was happening, Rakasha took his large hands and ripped Bulma's body from the tree, breaking the ropes that bound her instantly. A loud crack permeated the area as both of Bulma's arms snapped along with the ropes. They were bound around her wrists so tightly that when Rakasha pulled her away, the ropes showed momentary resistance—and her arms, unfortunately, got in the way. She screamed in unimaginable pain.

The pain seared through Bulma's body, numbing her to all other sensations—all she could feel were white-hot pangs ripping through her. She became overpowered by the urge to slip away, to faint, to just _die_, but a bright golden light brought her back to the present situation. Weakly, Bulma cracked her eyes open and used whatever breath was left within her to gasp. Where had Goku come from? It had to be him. That person ripping Rakasha's limbs off was definitely a Super Saiyan…

As the pain began to subside, though it was still the greatest pain she had ever felt, Bulma was able to focus more easily on the figure that was currently obliterating her attacker. His hair was flashing golden, his eyes flashing green, but it didn't look like Goku at all. It looked more like Vegeta.

It _was _Vegeta.

And in the next second, Bulma blinked, and the golden aura was gone. Vegeta was back to his normal self—raven-haired, obsidian-eyed, breathing heavily from the intensity of his attack. Rakasha was completely gone.

With a relieved smile, Bulma's head collapsed back onto the ground. Blurry-eyed, she saw a pair of white boots walking over to the place Rakasha had dropped her when Vegeta attacked.

_Now I can sleep… _That was the last thing Bulma Briefs thought before slipping into unconsciousness for a third time that night.

***

Vegeta kneeled down beside Bulma's unconscious body and gently rolled her onto her back. He felt her arms—both broken, as he suspected. But other than that, she had sustained no permanent damage. She had probably passed out from the intensity of the pain.

"Weakling woman," Vegeta muttered, though he said it with less disdain than usual. He wrapped his arms around her body and carefully lifted her up, so that she was curled into a fragile ball in his embrace.

Goku and Trunks chose that moment to appear, and Vegeta nearly dropped Bulma in surprise. He had not expected them to follow him.

"Oh man! Did I miss the fight?" Goku asked, pouting. Trunks was at his mother's side immediately, and Vegeta looked more than happy to hand her limp body over to him. Trunks took her, worry clearly etched into his features.

"Did he—" Trunks began, but Vegeta cut him off.

"He didn't get a chance," the prince replied. "I destroyed him."

Trunks was visibly relieved, and Vegeta raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "You are overly-concerned with the woman," he said. It was more of an accusation than a statement. Trunks flushed.

"She's, erm… one of the few survivors of the Android attack in my timeline, besides my mother and Gohan, and myself, of course," Trunks replied, trying to make it less obvious that he had more than a neutral stake in the blue-haired woman in his arms. "I'm just glad she's okay."

"That's great!" said Goku. "Looks like everything worked out well! Hey, what happened to her arms, they look kinda funky…"

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "They are broken, Kakkarot. One of those senzu beans you like to abuse so much should do more than enough to fix that."

"Yeah, just like they fixed your broken leg…" Goku muttered as he dug inside his pocket until he found what he was looking for and gently nudged Bulma awake, coaxing her into chewing the tiny bean. She did, slowly, and as she swallowed and digested the bean, the feeling returned to her arms. She was soon awake and alert. Trunks put her down immediately, the blush returning to his cheeks as soon as she was fully conscious.

Bulma groaned. "Oh—fuck. That hurt," she said, rising to her feet. "I hope I never break another bone." A look of realization formed on her face suddenly. "Vegeta!" she cried, turning to him. "You did it!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Did what? If you think I meant to save you, woman, you are sadly mistaken. I wanted to take care of Rakasha before Kakkarot had a chance to intervene. It was _my_ battle."

Bulma shook her head. "No, I meant…" She trailed off. He certainly wasn't acting the way she thought he would when he became a Super Saiyan. Was it possible he had been so blinded by rage and emotion that he hadn't felt the transformation?

"Hey, let's get back to Rakasha's ship. We still have a whole army of prisoners to wake up!" Goku said, interrupting Bulma's thought process. She made a mental note to follow up on Vegeta's Super Saiyan status as soon as she got a private moment with him.

Moments later, Goku had transported them back to the site of the previous battle, and most of the knocked out warriors were awake—and out of their hypnotic states.

Rakasha's former prisoners loaded back into his ship, which was now _their_ ship—the ship that would take them all back to their respective planets, or to new ones, if those planets had been destroyed. The Z-warriors saw them off. Only when the ship was out of eyesight did the fact that it was four in the morning hit any of them.

Yamcha, Krillen, Tien, and Chiaotzu were quick to depart. Yamcha offered to take Bulma home, an offer which she gladly accepted. _I'll talk to Vegeta later… _she thought as she left the former battleground with her ex-boyfriend.

Only Vegeta, Trunks, Piccolo, Chi-Chi, Goku and Gohan remained.

"Well, Tru—I mean, _Trent_—you did it. You stopped the worst from happening! Let's hope it works again in two years' time," Goku said.

Trunks smiled. "Yes, we can only hope." He paused. "Listen, Goku, can I speak with you privately for one moment?"

He took Goku aside. "What was that you were saying earlier, about 'speeding along the process' with my mom and dad?"

Goku laughed nervously. "Oh, that? It was just a little slip-up, I swear!"

"What kind of slip-up?" Trunks' eyes were narrowed at Goku suspiciously.

"Oh, you know—the kind where I may have accidentally said that Bulma and Vegeta were going to get together… in front of everyone… at a party."

Trunks' mouth hung open slightly as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"But don't worry!" Goku said quickly. "I fixed it! Piccolo helped, if you can believe that. Everything is back on track now. I mean, Vegeta destroyed every last molecule of Rakasha! If that doesn't say a lot about how he feels for Bulma, then I don't know what does!"

Trunks seemed satisfied by this explanation. "It's fine, Goku. Small risks are worth it to stop the Androids' wrath," he said. "Although, I wouldn't consider me not being born a _small _risk. But if what you say is true, that won't be happening." Trunks grew thoughtful as he continued, "It's strange how me just _being_ here was enough to change the course of things. My mom is safe… Rakasha didn't get his way with her, like he did in my timeline. Such a drastic difference. I wonder how your experiences with the Androids will differ…"

"Well, hopefully, it'll be different 'cause we'll win," Goku said, and he now wore a determined look which made Trunks feel more hopeful than he had in a long while.

"With you, Goku, I believe anything is possible. My mother said only you can change the course of the future, and I trust her judgment. I don't know if I can say the same for her younger counterpart, but…" He trailed off, and Goku chuckled.

"Speaking of your mom, she's probably worried about you. You should get back to your timeline," Goku said.

Parting with a promise to return in two years on the day of the Androids' arrival, Trunks lifted off in his time machine and disappeared into the early morning sky.

"I wouldn't trust that boy if I were you, Kakkarot," Vegeta said as soon as Trunks was gone. "He is hiding something. He acts nothing like a true Saiyan should." He paused. "But then again, neither do you."

Goku shrugged. "You never know, maybe he was dropped on his head as a baby, too!" He mentally added, _Wouldn't surprise me, with Bulma as his mother._

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "I am going to return to my training."

"You go on ahead. I'll drop by Capsule Corporation sometime this week to train," Goku said.

Vegeta turned his back to Goku. "I don't need it, Kakkarot. You can forget about our little sparring sessions. I train alone from now on."

"Suit yourself."

Just as Vegeta was preparing to leave, Goku spoke up again. "Hey, Vegeta," he said, and the Saiyan Prince paused to listen, though his back was still turned. Goku continued, "You remember when I said you needed something to fight for?"

Vegeta grunted.

"Well… I think you get what I mean now."

The prince said nothing. He powered up, rose swiftly into the sky, and blasted off in the direction of Capsule Corporation. Goku smiled to himself. They still had two years before the predicted arrival of the Androids, and by his calculation, that left about three months until Trunks was supposed to be conceived.

"Yep, I think my work here is done," Goku said aloud.

Piccolo scoffed, breaking his silence, and muttered, "It better be, Goku, because I don't think I can handle any more of your little slip-ups."

Goku laughed. "Oh Piccolo, don't be silly! That's why I keep you around! You've got clean-up duty."

The Namekian rolled his eyes. "You better get going. Chi-Chi is seeing red," he said.

Goku chuckled nervously. "Right. Good idea. See you tomorrow Piccolo!"

And with that, Goku transported himself and his family home, leaving Piccolo to his thoughts and meditations.

***

When Vegeta arrived at Capsule Corporation, he wasn't entirely surprised to see that Bulma was still awake, waiting for him in the kitchen. She must have known that his initial motivation upon returning would be to raid the fridge.

"Hello, Vegeta," Bulma said coolly. He took in her weathered appearance—she looked exhausted in her pajamas, holding a cup of coffee to her chest as if it were a child she felt obligated to protect.

"Woman, go to bed. You're an idiot—how many times are you going to try and get yourself killed in one day?" he said, unhappy that he was not going to be given the opportunity to eat in peace.

"Oh, hush, I'm not going to die from lack of sleep. If you think about it, I've technically been sleeping all night," Bulma replied, and an ironic smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

There was a drawn out moment of silence between the two before Vegeta broke it.

"Well, while you're awake, make yourself useful and prepare me some form of sustenance."

Bulma went to work making a simple sandwich. "Anything for the man who saved my life," she said playfully. Vegeta rolled his eyes.

"We both know he wasn't going to kill you," he said.

Bulma bit her lower lip and said, "Let's just… forget that ever happened, shall we? If I ever think about that creep again, it'll be too soon." She paused for a few seconds, trying to choose her next words very carefully.

"So, Vegeta… how did you feel when you rescued me?" she asked.

"What do you mean, woman? I felt fine. I rather enjoyed seeing you in pain, maybe that'll teach you a lesson about interfering with the affairs of men, and keeping your mouth shut, like a good little wench," he replied.

Vegeta raised his eyebrows at Bulma's reaction to his words. She looked neither angry nor hurt--just confused, and very thoughtful.

"So…" she ventured further. "You didn't feel any different when you rescued me? Nothing at all? Really?"

He growled, growing impatient with her ambiguity. "No, nothing! I didn't save you, or this forsaken planet, intentionally. That was just a byproduct of my actions. Rakasha was a threat I needed to be rid of. And I took my revenge out on him, for what he did to my people, and my father. Nothing more."

Bulma finished Vegeta's sandwich and set it down on a ceramic plate in front of him.

"If you say so, Veggie." She leaned forward and gave him a light peck on the forehead. "Thank you," she muttered, sauntering past him, trying her best to contain her laughter at his reaction to her subtle display of affection.

Vegeta watched her retreating form until she disappeared upstairs.

_What is that woman up to? _he thought, subconsciously touching his hand to his forehead and rubbing the area where her lips had brushed against his skin. He knew Bulma would react to him saving her like this—it was a risk he had been willing to take.

Vegeta had acted on impulse when the boy from the future said that Rakasha was going to hurt Bulma. He located her energy signal immediately and flew in that direction faster than he knew he could. The relief that overcame him when he saw that he was not too late had been overwhelming, almost to the point where if his stoic attitude were not so practiced, his manner may have betrayed the severity of the emotions flowing through him.

These were emotions Vegeta did not—_could not_—understand. Nor could he understand how he had been able to find Bulma so quickly, when her other friends could not. It concerned him deeply. The only people a Saiyan could feel instantly were his children or his mate, and she was obviously neither.

Vegeta scoffed at the idea of Bulma as his mate, and tried to recall what his father had told him about Saiyan mating. Vegeta had once told Bulma that is was an unspoken bond, and that was true, but he was always sure that both parties had to be aware of the bond for it to work. Perhaps that wasn't the case. Perhaps Vegeta had a greater stake in Bulma that he could possibly fathom, the depths of which he did not wish to explore any further until he got at least a small degree of sleep.

With a deep sigh, he gobbled his sandwich up in seconds and went to his room, passing by Bulma's along the way. He could sense that she was still awake, and had to fight the urge to enter her room and discuss his concerns with her. He was resolved to the idea that if he just ignored his feelings, whatever they may be, that they would just… go away.

But as stubborn as Vegeta was, even he couldn't properly convince himself of _that_.

***

It was rounding 6:00am, but Bulma hadn't managed to fall asleep just yet. She stayed in bed despite her restlessness, though it lingered on, keeping her alert and frustrated. Not only was she still recovering from the shock of nearly being sexually mutilated, but she was struggling with a big decision—should she tell Vegeta he had momentarily become a Super Saiyan, or let him figure it out for himself? Her conversation with him earlier suggested that he knew nothing about it. And should he know? Did Bulma owe it to him to tell him? She sighed, weighing her options. If she told him what she saw, he would do one of two things—train himself to death until he transformed again, or think she had been hallucinating. He might even think she was mocking him. She definitely didn't want him to think that.

And really, there was no telling what Vegeta would do if he became a Super Saiyan. His likeliest course of action would be to fly immediately over to Goku's house and challenge him to a battle, which truly was the last thing Bulma wanted. Then again, if he finally achieved his goal, he might tone down on the training, which would give her a chance to get closer to him…

_And why do I want to get closer to him? _Bulma thought, though she already knew the answer.

She sat upright in bed and hugged her knees to her chest. "Vegeta's right. You're a stupid woman," she muttered to her reflection in the vanity mirror across the room. "Falling for a homicidal maniac. You've always been a glutton for punishment. At least Mom will approve…"

Her growing feelings for Vegeta were the least of her problems, however. She still had to decide whether or not to bring up the Super Saiyan thing to the man in question.

"Ugh! This is crazy!" Bulma said, exasperated. She sighed. She knew what the right course of action was. "I'm a grown woman," she muttered. "I can deal with the consequences."

Resolved to her decision, Bulma finally began to drift away into slumber.

***

**A/N: **I just want to note, this story really surprises me every day. I think I have it all planned out, and then a great idea comes to mind in the midst of me writing a chapter, and it goes in a completely different direction. Now that, my friends, is innovation. Keep those reviews coming, I can't get enough of them, honestly. Thanks for reading, as always, and have a fantastic day!

P.S. I was just watching Yo! Son Goku and his Friends Return! On youtube (Japanese sub) and I realized that Piccolo's "Special Beam Cannon" is actually called the "Light of Death." Haha, oh, FUNimation… you sugarcoat everything. Also, why is Vegeta's brother (Tarble) so tiny? And why is his WIFE so tiny? It's bizarre. Watch it.


	13. Unspoken

**Disclaimer: **I DON'T OWN DBZ. This is the last fanfic I'm going to write where I put the disclaimer before every chapter. Gosh, it's annoying.

***

**Chapter 13: **Unspoken

***

It only took a few days for things to return to normal in the Briefs' household. Bulma went back to her inventions and gossip magazines, and Vegeta went back to his training and self-loathing. Every time Bulma tried to speak with Vegeta, he would become standoffish or insulting. He stayed cooped up in the gravity room all day, avoiding everyone, and emerging only to shower or eat. He was even cooking for himself now, effectively minimizing any and all human contact.

Needless to say, Bulma was growing very concerned.

"I haven't seen Mr. Vegeta around much lately, Bulma," Bunny announced one day as she and Bulma sat together at the dining room table, sipping tea.

"Hmm?" Bulma said when Bunny broke her out of a daydream.

"Did you scare Mr. Vegeta off, honey? Sometimes you're a little _too _abrupt, you know," Bunny continued.

"Oh please, Mom. I know from experience that nothing can scare that man off. No, he's definitely avoiding something. He's too stubborn for his own good,'' Bulma said, unable to hide her frustration or annoyance with the subject of their conversation.

"Well dear, maybe you should bring him lunch today, help clear the air a little. Make him those buffalo wings he likes so much. You know what they say, the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach!"

Bulma rolled her eyes. "Yes well, in order for that to work, the man in question actually has to have a heart."

Bunny waved off her daughter's comment. "That man adores you, Bulma! Anybody with two eyes can see that!"

Bulma couldn't help but laugh incredulously at her mother's words.

"I don't see what's so funny, Bulma! You know, when that man first came to live here, he was a ruthless killer, and he's changed so much since then!"

Bulma opened her mouth to object to her mother's summation, but Bunny motioned for her to be quiet and continued. "My point is, honey, that he barely says a word to anyone—not me, not your father, not even Yamcha or Goku! You're the only person he does talk to at all... But not recently. Something is bothering him, Bulma, and as your mother, I order you to get to the bottom of it!"

Bulma stared wide eyed at her mother's resolved face. She was a woman of few words and many superficial vices, but sometimes, Bunny Briefs could be more insightful than her daughter gave her credit for.

"Fine," Bulma said, defeated. "You win."

***

Vegeta's stomach growled hungrily, but he ignored it as he threw a punch at an invisible enemy. The gravity machine was currently set at 450g's, and Vegeta was feeling the pressure… so-to-speak. As hungry as he was, there was no way he was going to the kitchen right now. He was tracking Bulma's energy signal, and he knew she was in there currently. A second, weaker energy signal told Vegeta that her insatiable mother was with her as well.

_Damn that woman_, he thought, throwing another angry punch into the air. It had been nearly two weeks since he had saved Bulma's life—and two weeks since he started avoiding her. It wasn't that he regretted saving her—far from it. In fact, as soon as the lavender-haired boy from the future had implicated what Rakasha's intentions with Bulma were, Vegeta became consumed with fury and concern, and rushed to her rescue without really thinking it through. His only goal had been to keep Rakasha from violating her in any way, at all costs.

His sudden possessiveness over the woman he swore to hate for eternity was very distressing to him. He was beginning to notice things about her that he hadn't noticed before. The way she smelled, for one thing. She tried to mask her natural pheromones with man-made scents called perfume, but Vegeta could still smell her—and it was intoxicating. He found himself dwelling on her too often—the way she dressed, the way she enunciated certain words when she spoke… it was consuming him. Vegeta justified his altogether avoidance of her by convincing himself that she could only serve as a distraction to him.

And Bulma _was_ a distraction. Nothing could be closer to the truth. But it wasn't the woman herself distracting him; it was Vegeta's own thoughts, feelings, and urges.

When Rakasha had abducted her two weeks before, he found her energy signal immediately, despite the fact that she was miles away—a nearly impossible accomplishment. Now that they were merely yards apart from one another, he could feel her all the time. He knew which room she was in. He knew that she spent at least eight hours a day in her lab. He knew whether she was on the compound, or elsewhere in the city. He knew when she was asleep or awake. When she was in bed. When she was in the shower. And he knew that every time she passed by the gravity room on her way to the lab, her heart began beating like mad, as if she was nervous, or afraid, though he couldn't figure out why she would be either.

Vegeta literally could not get Bulma out of his head. Avoiding her wasn't working. In fact, the less he saw her, the more he thought about her. It was maddening.

_How is this possible? Only mates should be able to feel one another so easily… _

Vegeta was lost in his thoughts, but he could still sense Bulma approaching the G.R. Her heart was pounding rapidly, and he realized that she wasn't heading to her lab this time… she was heading straight for the gravity room.

"Fuck," Vegeta muttered. She was unavoidable.

Bulma didn't even bother to knock.

"Vegeta?" she called, peaking her head inside and catching sight of him instantly. Her sudden entry freed up the gravity, and it returned to Earth's normal gravitational pull. Bulma's furrowed her brows and entered cautiously, her unwavering eyes locked on Vegeta's. He stared back at her with equal resoluteness, and for a moment neither of them spoke.

Finally, Bulma broke the silence.

"I brought you lunch," she said, indicating the tray in her hands that Vegeta had not yet noticed. He nodded and said nothing.

Bulma visibly sighed. "Look, Vegeta, I need to tell you something." She bit her bottom lip, trying to pick her words carefully. She had been struggling back and forth with the decision to tell him that he had the capacity to become a Super Saiyan for two weeks now.

Vegeta remained silent, so Bulma continued.

"When you came to save me last week—"

He cut her off abruptly. "I did nothing of the sort, _wench_. Stop deluding yourself."

His response was so curt, so final, that Bulma could not help the anger that began swelling within her. _Way to make my decision for me, Vegeta_, she thought before saying, "Fine. Correction. When you came to destroy Rakasha after he was so incredibly weakened, because you couldn't do it before…"

Vegeta scoffed. "What are you suggesting?"

"I'm suggesting that you couldn't defeat him on your own. Isn't it obvious? You're no Goku, that's for sure," Bulma said, knowing she would probably regret her words later.

Vegeta's eyes widened in response. The look of shock on his face quickly dissolved into quiet outrage.

"You are walking a thin line, Bulma. Don't you remember what happened last time you compared me to that fool Kakkarot?"

She did remember. He had literally backed her into a wall, his arms on either side of her body, blocking her from escaping, his face mere inches from hers. She remembered feeling his hot breath on her face when he asked her if she had a death wish. She shuddered at the memory; she wasn't sure why. Vegeta took that as confirmation to his question.

"Do you have a death wish now, Bulma?" he asked. Bulma shook her head, her eyes still locked on his.

"You're delusional," she said quietly, echoing the same line he used on her so often.

"What are you talking about, woman? You're the one who keeps assuming I intentionally rescued you two weeks ago," he said, his head cocked to the side, awaiting her response.

"You're delusional about becoming a Super Saiyan. You just don't have what it takes. You don't have the drive that Goku has," Bulma said matter-of-factly. Her anger was rising by the second. All consideration of her mother's words earlier that day faded completely. She wanted to insult him as badly as he insulted her, even if she didn't mean it.

Bulma watched as Vegeta grit his teeth and looked away from her, attempting to literally bite back his animosity.

"Woman," he began slowly. "For the past two years I have lived with you and your insufferable parents. Do you know why I never killed you? I'll tell you why. You provide me with things that I feel are essential. The gravity chamber. The free meals. Shelter. Even…" he paused for a moment, trying to find the right words. "Even a sort of entertainment value I perhaps could not find elsewhere on this planet. And do you know what's going to happen the second I become a Super Saiyan?"

He paused to see if Bulma would respond, but she remained silent as he continued, "First, I'm going to destroy Kakkarot. And then, I'll come for you. Right now he is the only thing stopping me from pounding some respect into your sniveling, pathetic human body."

Bulma scoffed. "What are you saying? You're using me? That's not new news, you know."

"You're correct. I _am_ using you," Vegeta replied. "That's all this ever was, woman. You're foolish and idiotic. You're the only one of Kakkarot's friends stupid enough to offer any sort of charity to me. People like you are so easy to use. And when I've used you to your full capacity, you'll be just as easy to discard. You think you're something special? You think you can change me, turn me _good_? I will never be anything like your pitiful friends. And I will _never _be your friend. So do yourself a favor and stop trying to force it on me like the delusional woman you are."

At his words, Bulma dropped the tray of food she had been holding throughout their conversation. It fell to the floor and splattered on the walls of the gravity room. She knew her actions were childish, but his behavior was angering her beyond reason.

"What the hell is your problem, Vegeta?" she yelled as angry tears began forming in the corners of her eyes. "Why do you say these things you don't mean? Are you trying to push me away? I'm sick of it! That's it! I'm done! You don't deserve my kindness, my friendship, or… or my love."

Vegeta winced as Bulma ran sobbing from the gravity room. He winced because he knew he hurt her feelings, probably worse than he ever had before. He winced because she had just admitted her feelings for him, and he repaid her with a death threat. But mostly, he winced because he felt her pain—literally. She was unthinkably upset and overcome with despair and self-pity, and Vegeta could _feel_ it. And despite the fact that they weren't his personal feelings, he felt a wave of sadness pass over him. A solitary tear escaped the corner of his eye. A tear that was as much hers as it was his own. And that's when Vegeta knew. There was only one explanation for this.

He and Bulma were bonded.

***

Bulma headed straight for her lab after her altercation with Vegeta. Her tears subsided gradually as she tried to remind herself that he was putting on his usual front, but she couldn't conceal her disappointment. After everything they had been through, his hard exterior was still impossible to break through. She was hoping they had finally surpassed avoiding their feelings and putting up walls, but Vegeta remained unreceptive. Dejectedly, Bulma admitted to herself that she simply couldn't take it any more—she would either give up on him or continue to torture herself, never knowing exactly how he felt. She couldn't bear to do the latter any longer.

"Bulma, honey?" called Mrs. Briefs from the intercom. "How did your little talk with Vegeta go?"

Bulma massaged her temples as she replied, "We definitely got some issues out in the open, Mom."

Bunny seemed pleased by her response, as botched as it was. "That's great! I'm glad you guys are back on good terms!"

She didn't have the heart or the patience to tell her mother the truth.

***

Bulma spent the hours that followed in her laboratory trying to take her mind off Vegeta. Everyone she knew always found it very strange that working on inventions and tweaking Capsule Corp products relaxed her, but she didn't mind their criticisms. She enjoyed being an enigma. She found herself wondering if Vegeta enjoyed it, too, because that was all he was to her right now... impossible to read, mystifying, cryptic. An enigma, like her.

Bulma sighed. Now wasn't the time to liken herself to Vegeta. She couldn't be reminded of any commonalities between them—it hurt to think of herself in relation to him at all.

_I wonder what he's doing right now... _she thought. Her mind began wandering, and her eyes found the clock, which read 8:15 PM. He was emerging from the gravity chamber to eat dinner. He was extremely hungry. And upset about something, though Bulma wasn't sure what. He felt angry, but not towards her... more towards himself than anything.

Suddenly, Bulma realized she was subconsciously predicting Vegeta's mood and grew puzzled. "What the eff...?" she said aloud as she glanced out of her laboratory window to see Vegeta stalking over to the kitchen. "Woah girl. Calm down. He always eats around this time, right? You didn't just predict that."

There was a tiny voice in the back of her mind telling her that predicting actions was one thing. Predicting thoughts and feelings was entirely different.

_Damnit. What am I going to do about the woman?_

The thought came to her from out of nowhere. She heard it in her mind, as if it were her own thought, though she heard it in the voice of another. Vegeta's voice. Bulma shuddered.

"I better get out of here. This lab is making me crazy," she muttered. "I'm starting to hear voices. _His_, of all people's. Kami, I need to get it together."

With that, she abandoned her laboratory for the kitchen.

***

Vegeta felt her coming before she made it through the sliding glass door. He gathered up his dinner and returned quickly to his bedroom. The last thing he wanted to do was risk either one of Bulma's parents listening in on the conversation he knew he had to have with her.

As he stuffed cold noodles into his mouth, Vegeta contemplated how to begin such a conversation.

He wasn't sure how Bulma would take it. On his planet, once two Saiyans developed a bond, they mated for life. The bond formed beforehand; the mating followed soon after. Vegeta felt the heat rising in his cheeks as he thought of mating with Bulma. It wasn't the first time he had thought about her in that context. Even on Namek, while he was obsessing over finding the dragonballs, he felt an inevitable attraction towards her. Bulma was the single most appealing woman he had seen since his arrival on Earth. She was an elite in almost everything—looks, status, and brains. Earth's version of Saiyan royalty.

Vegeta knew that his planet was gone, and every Saiyan female along with it. However, it was in his nature to mate and continue the royal bloodline, even if there was no planet for which his future offspring to rule. It was basic instinct. He always thought that Saiyan mating stayed strictly between Saiyans, but apparently, it was adaptable to other races as well. Humans were very much like Saiyans, after all. Kakkarot and Chi-Chi proved that their genetics were compatible enough to produce children, and humans looked very much like Saiyans, minus the tail. The only thing Vegeta found it hard to reconcile with was how weak humans were. Though, he reasoned, Kakkarot's boy had the potential to be one of the strongest fighters he had ever known. He wondered if the mixture of Saiyan and human blood created a bizarre mutation superior in strength. Perhaps.

All of this contemplation did nothing to help Vegeta decide how to begin this topic with Bulma. Right now, she was very upset with him—and rightly so. He cursed himself for being so cold towards her. He hadn't let anyone get close to him since he was a boy. He forgot how it worked. He wasn't sure if he ever knew. Every woman he had in the past was purely for sport—he killed half of them, and took the other half unwillingly. His years of planetary purging and the evil deeds that followed would forever haunt his growing morality.

And Bulma. She was such a _good _person. Hot headed, like him. Stubborn. But kind. Friendly. Charitable. She cared for things that should not be her concern. She did not deserve to be with someone who could not treat her well, and Vegeta wasn't sure if he could. His diabolical nature felt too engraved within his soul to ever eradicate completely. But the fact that he and Bulma had developed this bond was unavoidable, and he had to confront it. If that meant tying himself to the human species… It was an almost unbearable fate. But there were worse things.

Within the vast array of thoughts currently consuming him, Vegeta had to wonder whether Bulma had sensed evidence of the bond yet. He hated to think that it was one-sided. If she was unreceptive to his needs… he didn't finish the thought.

Moments later, he sensed Bulma as she climbed the stairs, undoubtedly heading for her bedroom. Vegeta remained motionless when she passed through the hallway. Then, he slowly rose from his bed and headed in the direction of Bulma's bedroom. This was unavoidable, he reminded himself. And the prince of all Saiyans wasn't going to avoid his fate any more.

***

Bulma sat upon her bathroom counter, staring in the mirror and thoroughly examining the light purple rings that were beginning to form beneath her eyes. She prayed to Kami that they were due more to emotional drainage, rather than natural aging. There were two things on Bulma's most-feared list: the Androids, and old age. She wasn't sure which scared her more.

"I'm going to bed before ten. I must be getting old," she muttered.

With a heavy sigh, Bulma swung her legs from the counter and placed her feet on the cold bathroom tile. Her hair was down, so that the soft tresses cascaded around her shoulders, and she was clad only in a hot pink tank top and a pair of underwear. It was a warm night, so regular pajamas were pretty much out of the question. She admired her reflection for a moment. _Old or not, you're still pretty hot_, she thought. _Even if a certain holier-than-thou prince doesn't want you._

A click indicating that her bedroom door had been opened alerted her from her reveries. She knew it was Vegeta—she could sense it, somehow. She was almost expecting it. But she still asked, "Who's there?" as she emerged from the bathroom.

As she suspected, it was Vegeta. He was standing against her now closed bedroom door, his arms crossed, brows furrowed, and he surveyed her curiously.

"Oh, it's you," Bulma said. "Come to insult me? Didn't get your fill earlier? Maybe you came to see if I'm still crying, is that how you get your kicks?"

Vegeta winced slightly as if Bulma's words had actually stung him, and she backed off a little.

"Okay, so if you're not here to be a jerk, then maybe you're here to apologize? Is that it? 'Cause if so, let's hear it," she said, waiting expectantly for Vegeta to say something. He remained silent, his eyes barely tracing her face as they moved downwards to examine the rest of her body.

Bulma suddenly became very aware of how poorly clothed she was, and a blush crept upon her cheeks. She felt vulnerable and self-conscious, but she didn't try to cover herself up. As for Vegeta… he just looked awkward.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Bulma asked. Her voice had gone from angry to smug to unsure. She wanted to know why he was there, but he wasn't offering her so much as a hint.

Vegeta tore his eyes away from her body and refocused them on her face. He didn't really know where to begin. He had no idea how to approach this. And on top of everything, his groin was beginning to tighten very distractingly.

"Vegeta…" Bulma started to say, but his sudden movement made her stop. He was centimeters from her in seconds—she had never seen him close a gap so quickly before. Instinctively, she backed away from him, so that her back was pressed firmly into her bedroom wall and there was nowhere else for her to go.

This was a familiar scene. But she didn't think Vegeta was going to be making any death threats tonight.

Vegeta pressed his muscled body against Bulma's and dipped his head to the side as their lips met forcefully. Bulma's eyes widened in surprise and her mouth tightened reflexively, until finally her body relaxed and gave in. Vegeta's mouth covered hers and he kissed her hungrily, exploring her mouth with his tongue as she granted him entry.

Firmly but gently, Vegeta took Bulma's palms and wrapped his fingers around hers, pressing her arms against the wall as he assumed complete control. Bulma felt him harden against her and omitted a tiny squeal, which only served to heighten his arousal. In one swift motion, Vegeta released Bulma's arms, lifted her from the ground, and brought her legs around his waist.

Bulma wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he moved on from her lips to her neck, finally allowing her to breath. All she could do was gasp for air; she couldn't bring herself to form words. His mouth devoured hers once again, and he wasted no time as he carried her to her bed and gently laid her against the perfectly pressed sheets. His hands began exploring what his eyes had only tested before, and within seconds he had expertly discarded of any garments that might get in their way.

Bulma locked eyes with Vegeta as he mounted her, and she saw every emotion swimming within in his eyes that, until now, he had hidden so well.

The last thing Vegeta thought before the passion consumed them both was how successful he had been in telling Bulma about their bond. It was a genius approach—just say nothing. No questions. No arguments.

No words.

***

**A/N: **Finally, the chapter you have all been waiting for! Kind of an original approach to the whole "bonding" thing. The bite mark aspect gets boring when it's used in every single effing B/V, you know what I mean? I do think Bulma & Vegeta are bonded in some way, as evidenced in the series when she felt him die during the Buu Saga, but I don't think there's any physical evidence of a bond. I've always liked to believe it's more spiritual. _Unspoken_, if I may say. Hence the chapter title. Two more chapters to go! Enjoy, read, review, the usual.


	14. Sparks

**Disclaimer: **Nappa: Check the number of loyal readers for Damage Control on your scouter. Vegeta: IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAND!!! Nappa: What?! Nine thousand!!! That can't be right!!!!!! (I hope you guys understand the reference, lol)

***

**Chapter 14: **Sparks

***

Bulma awoke to the sun filtering in through her bedroom window, its bright rays filling her unsuspecting eyes with light as they watered profusely in response.

She was about to get out of bed and close the blinds before she realized that she was stuck. _What the… _? Her groggy mind was still waking up as she began to notice that a pair of tan, muscular arms were thrown over her, holding her in place.

Slowly, the events of the previous night came back to her mind. The blood rushed to her face instantly and her body tensed up as she felt Vegeta shift in his sleep, his arms wrapping themselves around her tiny frame more tightly.

_Wow, never thought Vegeta would be a cuddler_, Bulma thought, allowing a smile to creep upon her face as she relaxed against him. This was nice. Very unexpected, but nice. She found herself wondering how long it was going to last before Vegeta returned to his trademark stoicism.

At that moment, he began to stir, loosening his hold enough so that Bulma could actually move. She pushed herself up on her elbows and looked down sideways at Vegeta, whose eyes were barely cracked open, looking straight ahead. It took a few moments for him to regain focus and he sat up, prompting Bulma to do the same.

_Wow. This is awkward_, she thought, as neither party said anything for the minute of silence that followed.

"So…" Bulma began, searching her brain for a possible ice breaker. "How did you get all those scars?"

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at her. _Oops_, Bulma thought. _Wrong question._

But he surprised her by responding in a gruff voice, "They are battle wounds, obviously."

She nodded her head and mouthed "oh" as if she had had no idea. Then, Vegeta surprised her again by laying back down on her bed. He rested his arms behind his head and stared up at the ceiling, apparently deep in thought. Bulma felt awkward again.

"Should I… go?" she asked.

Vegeta scoffed. "Woman, these are _your_ resting quarters," he grumbled. "If you would like me to leave—"

Bulma cut into his words before he could finish. "No, you don't have to leave!" She sounded almost desperate, and quickly changed her tone of voice. "I mean, if you want to… but I like you here, next to me…."

Vegeta cocked an eyebrow, and the faintest hint of a smirk began playing at the corners of his lips. "Oh? So you're saying you like me in your bed?" he asked.

Bulma felt the blush return to her cheeks. "No!" she replied defensively, then, at his incredulous expression, corrected herself: "Well, yes, that part is... amazing, to say the least. But I'm just glad to spend more time with you. We have a lot of things we need to discuss…" She laid back down on her bed as well, resting her head on Vegeta's firm chest. He didn't try to push her off, so Bulma figured her actions were acceptable. She wasn't quite sure how to interpret the "softer" side of Vegeta.

"You're right. We do have some things we need to discuss," he said before launching into the explanation of Saiyan bonding and mating that had been lost on him the night before. Bulma listened intently, wide-eyed, as he went into great detail.

"Wait, so I can read your thoughts?" Bulma asked. " 'Cause I think that happened to me yesterday…"

"Not all the time," Vegeta replied. "I've never experienced it myself, but I learned that you can only read your mate's mind during greatly emotional times… or, of course, if both parties are aware and receptive to the other's thoughts."

Bulma raised her eyebrows and decided to test out Vegeta's little theory, focusing on him as she thought, _So, you can read my thoughts right now, because I'm letting you?_

Distinctly, she heard his reply in her mind, as if she herself had thought it: _Yes._

"This is insane. Surreal," she muttered. "And you can tell what I'm feeling, too? How bizarre."

Vegeta rolled his eyes at her blatant wonder. "I can sense that you're very happy right now," he said matter-of-factly, that faint smile still threatening to break through his usually indifferent exterior.

Bulma smiled up at him, snuggling into the nape of his neck. "And I can sense that someone is ready for round two…"

Her lips found his and she kissed him lightly, but Vegeta was unresponsive.

"I have to train," he said simply, slipping away from her and out of her bed in one swift movement. "My priorities haven't changed just because you're my mate now, Bulma."

Bulma bit back a squeal of excitement at his words. She couldn't quite grasp the idea of being Vegeta's mate. She couldn't believe she was his now, and he was hers, in return. It all seemed too good to be true. She couldn't help feeling disappointed that he was leaving her now to train.

"There are, of course, a few conditions to you being my mate. Three, to be precise," Vegeta started saying as he searched her bedroom floor for his spandex shorts. "Firstly, you cannot touch that whelp again. Or anyone else for that matter, while I am alive," he said. Bulma assumed that "whelp" was his newest nickname for Yamcha, and she quickly replied, "Duh."

"Secondly," Vegeta began. "You can never lie to me. About anything. Lying is considered one of the greatest betrayals between mates on Vegetasei, and it's something I was brought up not to tolerate."

Shit, Bulma thought. She knew it was too good to be true. "Oh…" she said. "About that…"

Vegeta, now fully dressed, turned to look her in the eyes dead on. Bulma was intimidated already.

"What about it?" he asked, his eyes narrowed at her suspiciously. Bulma gulped.

"Well, I've been trying to tell you for weeks," she started to say, looking down at her hands as she suddenly became very conscious of her stark nakedness. She wrapped a bed sheet around her body before continuing, "Right before you destroyed Rakasha, you…. Well, you…" She didn't know what to say.

"Spit it out, woman!" Vegeta said, crossing his arms impatiently.

Bulma sighed. This wasn't going to end well. Finally, she worked up the nerve to speak the words, though they were quiet and rushed: "You'reaSuperSaiyan."

Although she said it barely above a whisper, Vegeta's elevated hearing heard it all. His eyes widened at her words. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "How do you know that?"

"Because…" Bulma said. "You transformed right before you rescued me. It was only for a split second… I'd say five seconds, tops. But I saw it with my own eyes. Gold hair, piercing green eyes, the works! I just… didn't know how to tell you."

Vegeta looked away from her, his mouth agape, his brows creased together. "You've kept this from me for how long?" His voice was even, but there was a dangerous undertone Bulma didn't want to dwell on.

"Just over two weeks," she responded timidly. "I don't know how you didn't feel the transformation, I guess you were just... distracted."

Vegeta kept his eyes away from her, instead choosing to affix his gaze on her dresser. Bulma tried to get a sense of what he was thinking or feeling. She could tell that he was livid, but she had no access to his thoughts. He was blocking them from her.

"I have to train," he said coarsely, and he was gone seconds later, slamming Bulma's bedroom door behind him.

Bulma stared down at her hands in her lap for what felt like hours, trying to distract herself from the despair threatening to overcome her. Just when things were starting to get better, they came crashing down again.

Gathering a deep breath, she got out of bed and began to clean up her room. A tear managed to escape, but she wiped it away immediately. She refused to cry.

***

Bulma expected to go through weeks of silent treatment from Vegeta following the disastrous end to their first tryst. And she would have endured it, too, if it weren't for the meddling ways of her mother.

"Oh, Bulma!" cried Bunny when her daughter finally made an appearance downstairs later that day, after dwelling within the confines of her room for half of it.

"Hey, mom," Bulma said dejectedly, barely lifting her eyes to examine her mother's elated face. _Wish I could be that happy all the time_, she thought grumpily.

"I'm so happy for you, Bulma!" Bunny continued. Bulma raised her eyebrows.

"For what, exactly?" Her mother rarely got this excited over anything.

"About you and Vegeta of course!" Bunny replied as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. Bulma's mouth dropped open.

"W-what do you mean? Mom, nothing is going on between us," she said. She really didn't feel like explaining the situation to anyone right now, least of all her mother.

"Oh, hush!" Bunny replied. "I saw Vegeta come out of your room this morning! That can only mean one thing!"

There was a long, dramatic pause before Bunny filled in the blank: "GRANDCHILDREN!!!"

Bulma smacked her forehead. _Of course. No wonder she's on cloud nine. I will never hear the end of this. Oh Kami, lend me patience, please…_

When Bulma re-focused on her mother's ramblings, she caught the tail end of something else Bunny seemed very excited about.

"… dinner tonight. Oh, just the family, of course. Me, your father, you, and of course my future son-in-law, Vegeta…"

Bulma groaned. "Mom, don't get carried away. We got in a… a sort of argument this morning, I don't think Vegeta is coming to dinner…"

"Don't be silly, Bulma, he's always agreed to have dinner with us! Apparently he needs to speak with your father about something, probably to ask his permission for your hand in marriage. Oh it's so romantic I can barely breath!" Bunny cried, tearing up with excitement.

Bulma was shocked. After his behavior this morning, Vegeta was still going to have dinner with them? She found herself wondering if he knew that she would also be in attendance.

"And don't worry about these little spats, Bulma honey! They are very common amongst married people, you should probably get used to them. Goodness knows you had enough practice with poor Yamcha!"

Bulma had a bad feeling about the way her mother said Yamcha's name. "What's wrong with Yamcha?" she asked suspiciously.

"Oh," Bunny replied, her brows creasing together in concern. "The dear stopped by this morning looking for you. I couldn't help but tell him the great news! He didn't seem very happy about it, though…"

"Mom, you didn't!" Bulma cried in exasperation. _This is perfect! Just what I needed! Yamcha probably thinks I've gone insane!_

Shaking her head in disbelief and frustration, Bulma made up a bogus excuse to leave her mother's company and headed straight for her cell phone. Nine missed calls. All from Yamcha. Yeah, she definitely had some explaining to do.

***

"I'm not convinced."

Yamcha stood across from Bulma. They were in his living room; Puar was having an afternoon nap, so it was just the two of them discussing what Yamcha called her "crazed reaction to breathing in too many lab fumes."

"Yamcha, I'm not crazy. Vegeta is… different. You saw how he rushed after me when Rakasha abducted me! He saved me!" Bulma said, trying to defend her would-be mate.

"Still not convinced," Yamcha replied. He looked concerned, confused, and supremely annoyed, but he was taking it better than she expected.

"Well, I don't have to convince you of anything. I… " She hesitated momentarily. "I love him."

Yamcha's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Woah. That's a heavy confession there, Bulma. Are you sure you're not psychologically damaged? This is Vegeta we're talking about, right? The one who killed me, Tien, Chiaotzu, almost killed Gohan, and tries to kill Goku at every opportunity?"

Bulma sighed. "Well, he didn't kill you guys, Nappa and the Saibamen did… but uhh, I guess that doesn't matter. What does matter is, why did you even come by Capsule Corp this morning in the first place?"

This was the reason she had really come to meet him. The last thing she wanted to hear was that he wanted her back.

"I just came to check up on you, see how you were doing. We're friends, aren't we?" he asked.

Bulma nodded, relieved. "Yes, of course."

"And as your friend," Yamcha said. "I'd say you're making a very big mistake. That man is not capable of caring about, let alone loving, any living thing. He even hates himself!"

Yamcha's words cut into her deeply, and Bulma had to bite her lower lip to prevent from tearing up. Yamcha recognized her body language—after all, he'd seen her burst into tears numerous times before.

He sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulder comfortingly. "Hey, what's wrong? Besides the obvious 'I'm in love with a psycho killer' ?"

Bulma wondered briefly whether she should open up to Yamcha, but decided at last that it couldn't hurt. "We got into a fight this morning," she began.

"Already?" Yamcha asked in mock-surprise.

"It was my fault!" Bulma said. "I lied to him. Well, kinda. I kept something from him. Something pretty important."

"Important like… ?"

"He's a Super Saiyan. He didn't know. I saw him transform right before he saved me. He must have been so distracted by the battle that he didn't even notice the surge in power, and a second later, it was gone. I didn't know what to do. I was afraid he would go after Goku, or worse…"

Yamcha sighed. "Well, that's just great, Bulma. Vegeta's a Super Saiyan. The first thing he's gonna do after we beat the Androids is turn on us, you know that?"

Yamcha changed his tone when he realized his judgmental approach wasn't working. Instead, he tried to comfort her: "But hey, look, we still have two years 'til the Androids, so let's worry about the more pressing matters. So you got in a fight? Big deal. Just apologize. Explain everything to him. Though honestly, B, you really shouldn't stay with Vegeta if you don't even trust him _not _to attack one of your best friends…"

"You're right," Bulma said. "It doesn't make any sense. I guess love never does."

Pouring her heart out to Yamcha was the last way Bulma ever imagined she would spend her afternoon, but it certainly was therapeutic. By the time she got back to Capsule Corporation, she was feeling slightly more optimistic. Perhaps after dinner she would corner Vegeta and try to explain her side of the story more fully.

Dinner was waiting for her when she got home, and Bunny pulled out all the stops for what she called her "first meal with her new family."

Bulma couldn't help but be entertained by her mother's antics. She found herself wondering if this obsession with grandchildren was hereditary.

True to Bunny's word, Vegeta exited the gravity room and joined them for dinner promptly at 6:30 pm. Bulma eyed him wearily as he entered the dining room and sat directly across from her. His eyes never once passed over her face. He was completely ignoring her.

Bulma's positive mood was already beginning to dwindle.

Halfway into dinner and Bunny's nonstop chatter, Vegeta interrupted the discussion to address Dr. Briefs.

"How soon can a ship be ready?" Vegeta asked briskly. Dr. Briefs seemed taken aback by the question.

"Whatever for, dear boy?" he said, eyeing Bulma for her reaction. The color had completely drained from her face.

"It seems there are some things the gravity room cannot do for me. I will need to resume my training in space. How long until the ship is ready?" Vegeta repeated.

Unsure of how to respond, Dr. Briefs went with an honest answer. "I can have one ready in the next hour or so. But don't you think you've done enough—"

"It's never enough!" Vegeta cut him off. He looked across the table. His gaze found Bulma's as he formed his next words, his eyes cold, his expression stoic. "And my current environment has proven too distracting for me to make adequate progress."

Dr. Briefs sighed. "Very well. I suppose training for the Androids should be everyone's priority, and I'm happy to help wherever I can. I'll get to work as soon as dinner is over."

Vegeta broke his focus on Bulma and provided Dr. Briefs with a gruff and slightly uncharacteristic "thank you."

Bulma sat against the dining room chair, her back pin straight, her eyes wide. She couldn't believe it. He was leaving… because of her? It was too much to bear. She wasn't completely sure of what was keeping her from screaming at that moment. To cry would have been a normal reaction—the only thing that Bulma could muster was a hurried "excuse me" as she fled from the table into the cool night air.

***

Vegeta watched Bulma leave, ignoring the searing anguish emanating from her. He knew she would be upset with his decision; he had braced himself for it all day. But it had to be done. He needed to free his mind from the constant distraction that she had become to him. The previous night had only served to strengthen their bond, which he had fully expected. What he did not expect, however, was to find out that he had the capability to transform into a Super Saiyan ... if only he could concentrate. Positioning himself in the depths of space and solitude was his only option. Separating from his mate would be difficult—her feelings about the matter notwithstanding, he knew that some of the anguish he felt was his own. He wasn't sure if she would ever forgive him for leaving. He figured he would find out when he returned, whenever that was. At least, he thought sardonically, she would have something to keep her busy while she was gone. He smirked to himself.

He never missed a target.

***

Bulma sat beside the G.R., which her father had just finished prepping for blast off, waiting impatiently for Vegeta to emerge from Capsule Corp before taking flight. She didn't know how she was going to stop him from going, but she wasn't going to resort to begging or crying. She hoped explaining her point-of-view would be enough. Vegeta may have been a hothead and ex-homicidal maniac, but he was still one of the most rational people she knew.

It was nearly ten at night when he finally came out to inspect the gravity room-turned-spaceship. He was dressed in his traditional spandex and Saiyan armor, and he had nothing else with him. Despite the pampering provided him at Capsule Corporation, he was still accustomed to having only the bare necessities.

Bulma rose immediately to meet him. "Vegeta, don't go," she said, imploring him to respond. He looked at her, and a flicker of sadness quickly passed behind his steady gaze.

"I'm leaving, woman. There isn't a word you can say to stop me. If you try you will only succeed in getting your feelings hurt further," Vegeta replied, pushing past her.

Bulma was beginning to grow a little more desperate. "Look! I-I'm sorry I didn't say anything about you being a Super Saiyan. I was afraid you would try to attack Goku or something, I was afraid you would leave! I guess I was right."

Vegeta turned to her. "Bulma, I am not angry with you, even if you did spend half the afternoon with Scarface." She reddened when she realized he had tracked her all the way to Yamcha's house, and couldn't help the fear that it had only served to push him further into this radical decision.

"Neither that, nor the fact that you kept the transformation from me, is the reason I am leaving," he explained as if he had read her thoughts. Perhaps he had.

"Then... why?" Bulma asked, as tears formed in the corner of her eyes. So much for the "not crying" rule.

"I must be free of all distractions to reach the transformation again. Constantly sensing your energy signal and your feelings is an enormous hindrance," Vegeta explained bluntly.

Bulma understood now. There was nothing she could do. The tears began to run freely down her face.

Vegeta grit his teeth in response to her display of weakness. "Stop crying woman! I'll return as soon as I gain control over the transformation."

"But I thought it was nearly impossible to separate yourself from your mate?" Bulma said.

Vegeta saw that he would have to resort to angering her before he could leave, so that she might stop pleading with him to stay.

"Yes, but the fact that you're a pitiful human woman makes it easier on me," he replied, and he sensed how his comment had ignited animosity within her.

"So now I'm not good enough?" Bulma asked, looking away from him, trying unsuccessfully to control her tears.

"Trust me, woman," Vegeta said. "I'll be leaving a piece of myself here whether I like it or not." He brought his face so close to hers that she thought he was going to give her a parting kiss, but he simply took one last look at her before disappearing inside the gravity room.

"Vegeta, was it that supposed to mean? VEGETA?" Bulma cried after him. The spaceship began to emit a loud whirring noise, signaling that the engine was starting and the ship was prepping for take off. Bulma backed away to avoid whiplash, angry tears still streaming down her cheeks.

The spaceship took off moments later, shooting into the night sky. It only took a few seconds for it to disappear completely. Bulma blinked and coughed profusely, as the projectile dust from the blast blinded her and filled her lungs. Once the air was clear, everything was quiet.

Vegeta was gone.

***

**A/N: **OMG EVERYONE, go on youtube and find the video "Vegeta's shave." It's a clip from the DBGT dub. The way Vegeta pronounces mustache is pure hilarity.

GOOD NEWS! Some of you may be happy about this—I'm thinking about extending this fanfic a little. Just by one chapter, but I wanted to dedicate a chap to Bulma's pregnancy, and I wanted to throw Goku & Piccolo back in for a brief cameo. So if you'd like to see this a little bit longer than originally planned, let me know! You know what to do ;P If there isn't much demand for one, though, I'd rather move on to my next fanfic (which you'll be hearing all about when I post the last chapter). Hope you enjoyed reading this chap, everyone! Please review!


	15. Tail End

**Disclaimer: **I own many things. DBZ isn't one of them.

***

**Chapter 15: **Tail End

***

One month into Vegeta's absence, and Bulma finally grew used to not having him around. She'd known him as her "mate" for hardly a day, after all--getting used to life without him shouldn't have been that hard. But nonetheless, it had a taken one month for her to get over it.

And she wasn't _over _it, not really. She was used to it. The sadness, however, was ever-present.

Drawing a deep breath, Bulma stared at her reflection in her bathroom mirror, particularly at the dark lines beneath her eyes which signified lack of sleep. She was feeling so tired lately--uncharacteristically so. Even with the emotional baggage she was carrying around, she shouldn't feel _this _fatigued. One hour's work in her lab felt more like an entire day's worth. Something was most assuredly wrong, and she continuously dismissed Vegeta's absence as the cause of her fatigue.

After a whole month, however, it was becoming more and more difficult to ignore. Bulma decided making an appointment with her doctor might not be such a bad idea. She was so preoccupied worrying about the Androids and Vegeta's whereabouts that she forgot her health had to be maintained as well in order for her to stay alive. It was an easy thing to overlook when you had Armageddon on the mind.

Bulma grew tired of scrutinizing her appearance and changed into a comfortable pair of pajamas. The nights were growing colder now, and she couldn't help but think that if Vegeta were still around, his strong arms and warm aura wrapped around her body would do just the trick. But she would just have to settle for pajamas tonight.

A sound below her bedroom put Bulma on alert. "Who could that be?" she wondered aloud. It sounded like it was coming from the kitchen…

With next to no hesitance, Bulma rushed downstairs to investigate the source of the noise. It was peculiar for either of her parents to be out of bed at this time of night, but she banished the possibility of a burglar break-in from her mind; nothing less than a Saiyan could get past her father's security system.

_Nothing less than a Saiyan. I rest my case_, Bulma thought as she entered the kitchen and saw the noisemaker.

"Goku?" she asked incredulously. "Why are you raiding my fridge at ten thirty at night?" Bulma realized he had probably used instant transmission to get inside the compound, thereby rendering her father's high-tech security defenses useless. She eyed Goku with a hint of disappointment; she almost let herself believe that Vegeta had returned at last, but those hopes had been dashed the moment she'd seen her old friend.

With a mouth full of food, Goku tried to answer, but a chicken wing dropped out and fell to the floor. He quickly swallowed. "Sorry Bulma!" he said once his mouthful had been properly disposed. "I'm really hungry! Plus I've been craving a good spar with Vegeta. Piccolo hasn't exactly been pushing my limits lately."

Bulma looked away from him at his mention of her would-be mate. "Vegeta's gone," she said simply. "He took off for space last month."

If Goku had had any food left in his mouth, he would most likely have spit the rest of it out at that moment.

"What do you mean? What happened?" he asked, and Bulma raised her eyebrows. He almost looked panic-stricken.

"Don't worry, Goku, he's going to be back. Presumably before the Androids arrive, but I can't honestly say I know when. He left… abruptly," she answered, trying without success to conceal her disappointment.

Goku seemed to relax slightly. "Are you alright?" he asked, putting his hand on her shoulder. He instantly drew his hand back with lightening speed, as if he'd received some sort of electric shock.

"Woah Bulma, your ki is a little more potent than usual!" he said. "You haven't been training or anything crazy like that, have you?"

Bulma shook her head, visibly perplexed by his question. "No. Actually, I've been really tired lately," she admitted. "Too tired to do anything other than eat, sleep, and watch soap operas." _That's the life of a woman abandoned_, she thought, privately regarding herself with pity.

A look of realization quickly passed over Goku's features. "Hey Bulma, maybe you should sit down," he said, offering her a seat at the dining room table.

"You know, that actually sounds wonderful," Bulma said, gratefully taking him up on his offer. She sat and proceeded to rest her head in her hands.

"Maybe you should get something to eat," Goku suggested. "After all, you're probably going to be eating for two from now on."

Either she didn't hear him, or she simply was too tired to comprehend his words, because Bulma's only response was, "So sleepy…"

Goku popped his head inside the dining room and watched Bulma steadily slip away into an uncomfortable, yet much-needed, rest.

"That wasn't Bulma's ki I felt," he muttered aloud to himself. "So it must be Trunks'. Gohan's was easy to sense when Chi-Chi was pregnant with him, too. Must be a Saiyan thing. Strong little tykes." Goku smiled as he recalled a not-so-distant memory.

Deciding that he couldn't simply leave Bulma at the table to sleep, he gingerly picked her up and laid her down on the couch in the living room. He wasn't about to go searching around the house for her bedroom, if only to avoid a disastrous confrontation with Vegeta should he choose that moment to come back from space and find Goku in Bulma's bedroom. No, better to stick with the safest bet. The couch was like a giant bed anyway. This house did belong to the richest family on the planet, after all, and the furnishings certainly reflected that.

Satisfied now that Bulma was in a more comfortable sleeping position, Goku readied himself to transport home and began focusing his energy. Seconds later, he appeared in front of his house, surprised to see that the kitchen lights were still on. He found Chi-Chi inside having a cup of tea with a very disturbed-looking Piccolo.

Piccolo was standing awkwardly against the kitchen wall with his arms crossed, his teeth ground together, a bead of sweat trickling down the side of his face. It was obvious that he was trying very hard not to insult Chi-Chi by saying something vulgar or simply walking away as she ranted to him.

Goku wore a mirthful smile, trying to figure out how Piccolo got himself into this unfortunate predicament. As soon as the indifferent Namek sensed Goku's approach, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey guys!" Goku said merrily. "Kinda late for tea, isn't it Chi-Chi?"

Chi-Chi shrugged. "I couldn't sleep. I saw Piccolo outside and insisted he join me. We've had a wonderful conversation for the past hour, haven't we, Piccolo? You're no where near as frightening as I thought!"

Goku chuckled. "An hour, huh?" he said, elbowing his green friend in the ribs. "Good thing Piccolo was around to keep you company, Chi!"

Piccolo winced, but said nothing. The look on his face was akin to the look of someone who was seriously questioning why he interacted with other living beings.

"You know, Piccolo, you should have dinner with us some time! I never see you eat, I can't even begin to imagine how malnourished you are," Chi-Chi mused. Piccolo's cheeks turned a deep shade of red.

"I don't eat. I only drink water," he muttered, though Chi-Chi did not seem to be listening. She was already planning what to make for dinner the following night.

Goku decided it was time for a subject change. "Well, I have good news!" he announced proudly, much to Piccolo's relief. "We did it!"

"Did what?" Chi-Chi asked, staring blankly.

Goku chuckled. "I was talking to Piccolo," he replied. "I think he knows what I mean."

"You mean _you_ did it. I was an unwilling participant," Piccolo replied, sneering in disgust. "And don't be so sure, Goku. I felt Vegeta's ki presence leave the Earth's atmosphere over a month ago. He isn't even on the planet."

"Yeah, well Vegeta left behind a little something for Bulma before he went," Goku said with a wink.

Piccolo rolled his eyes. Chi-Chi stood between the two with a puzzled look on her face. "Left behind... ?" she trailed off, trying to decipher her husband's cryptic statement. It didn't take her long to realize what he really meant.

"Bulma's pregnant? With Vegeta's child?" Chi-Chi asked incredulously. Goku looked very surprised that his statement had been so translucent.

"Don't say anything about it to her, Chi," Goku said. "_She_ doesn't even know yet. The only reason I know is because I felt the baby's energy signal."

"Don't tell her? Are you CRAZY?" Chi-Chi cried. "Don't you remember what happened to me when I was pregnant with Gohan?"

Goku raised an eyebrow and scratched his head. "Actually, no. You were so angry all the time I tried to stay away from you as much as possible!" he admitted.

Chi-Chi growled, and it was an alarming sound, coming from such a petite woman. "Now is not the time for your little jokes, Goku. I almost _died_ having Gohan! How can you _not_ remember this?"

"Don't exaggerate, Chi-Chi! You just had to have one of those c-suction things, you didn't even come close to dying!" Goku protested.

Chi-Chi shook her head. "Honey, it's c-_section_, not suction, and I got lucky! At the time we had no idea you weren't human so we didn't monitor my pregnancy as carefully as we should have. We didn't know it was dangerous for human women to birth a Saiyan child!"

"What do you mean by dangerous?" Piccolo interjected, only mildly interested by the exchange.

Chi-Chi sighed. "Gohan was the biggest baby the hospital had ever seen! He was too big for me to deliver naturally. I just couldn't do it on my own, and I lost a lot of blood in the process of trying. Bulma's no bigger than I am, so there's no reason to believe her experience would be any different, if not worse."

She turned to her husband with a pleading expression. "Goku, we have to tell her! Her pregnancy needs to be carefully monitored. It's just too unpredictable."

Finally, Goku understood the nature of Chi-Chi's concern, but the thought of interfering with Bulma's personal life one final time was not very appealing.

"I guess you have a point," Goku said. "But can't you be the one to tell her? I don't know the first thing about babies and pregnancy! I don't even know what a c-section _is_!"

Chi-Chi rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it," she grumbled.

"I don't see why either of you are making such a fuss out of this," Piccolo said. "I'm sure she'll figure it out on her own. The Bulma from future Trunks' timeline lived through her pregnancy, so there's no reason to believe that the Bulma from our time won't. If there had been any complications with his mother, Trunks would have forewarned us in some way."

Goku's face lit up. "Oh yeah! I didn't even think about that! She did live through it in Trunks' timeline! That's great, so we officially have nothing to worry about," he said excitedly.

"Wait a second," said Chi-Chi. "That future boy--Trunks--is he really Bulma and Vegeta's son? That's remarkable!"

Goku paled slightly and shot a nervous glance in Piccolo's direction, who looked about ready to kick himself. "Piccolo, that slip-up was all you," Goku said, grinning ironically. Piccolo grumbled something to himself and uncrossed his arms.

"I'm going to meditate," he said, leaving abruptly.

As soon as he was gone, Goku turned to his wife.

"Uhh, Chi-Chi? Could you not mention that whole son-from-the-future thing to Bulma just yet? I was supposed to keep that little piece of info under wraps," he said.

Chi-Chi nodded. "Of course hun! I'll agree to do that, if you agree to let Gohan take five hours away from training every day to study, how does that sound?"

Goku just groaned.

***

"Ms. Briefs, you're pregnant."

The doctor's words had been reverberating inside Bulma's mind for the past week. Her initial response had been akin almost to denial--how could she be pregnant? She had been using birth control since she was sixteen years old!

"Damn those Saiyans! Even their sperm won't take "no" for an answer!" she muttered, staring down at her still-flat stomach and trying to imagine what it was going to look like in seven months.

Make no mistake, Bulma's pregnancy was not unwanted. After she had fully digested the doctor's news, she began feeling deeply protective of her child. She loved it already, and she spent hours just trying to imagine what her baby was going to look like. But now wasn't exactly an ideal time to bring a child into the world. The Androids' arrival was constantly looming over their heads, not to mention her child's father was lost in the far reaches of space…

Bulma pushed that thought to the back of her mind and refocused on her impending motherhood. No matter what happened, she was going to protect her child at all costs. It would never go without anything. Not if she could help it.

Bulma heard her front door open and close swiftly, and she knew her parents were back from their day out. She sighed deeply. She had been bracing herself for this all day: it was time to tell her parents that she was pregnant.

***

Bulma winced in response to the pitch in her mother's voice when she finally delivered the exciting news. Dr. Briefs had tried to get a word in, too, but his words were lost amidst his wife's elated squeals.

Once Bunny skipped from the room, determined to find Bulma's baby albums, Dr. Briefs turned to his daughter and asked awkwardly, "Er, it is Vegeta's child, right honey?"

"Of course it is, Dad!" Bulma cried, visibly mortified by the presumptuous nature of his question.

"Just checking," Dr. Briefs said with a light chuckle. "Well, in that case, I hope the boy returns soon. I gave him enough fuel for about ten months, so he'll be back just before summer, in any case."

"Oh," Bulma said with a frown. "Well, knowing Vegeta he'll take it to the limit." That meant he wasn't going to be there when their child was born… but then again, what more did she expect?

It wasn't until later that night when Bulma remembered something Vegeta had said before he left: "_Trust me, woman. I'll be leaving a piece of myself here whether I like it or not._"

So that's what he meant! He knew she was pregnant! Is that why he left? Bulma quickly blocked out the latter thought. It was far too unpleasant to dwell upon, especially while she was trying to sleep. Her exhaustion had become overwhelming. She was thankful not to have experienced any sort of morning sickness (yet), but the fatigue was almost more than she could bear. Bulma tried to clear her mind, but her thoughts continued to linger upon Vegeta and the reason for his prolonged absence.

"Vegeta, you stubborn asshole! You better be back soon," she said aloud, raising her fist as if to emphasize her frustration. But it was useless; her threat was lost in the darkness of her quiet, empty bedroom.

***

The months passed by fairly quickly for Bulma after that. Her anticipation increased daily, until she woke up one morning and realized her due date was quickly approaching. She had just over one week to go! Vegeta still hadn't returned, but she had come to terms with that by now. She was even starting to think that single motherhood wouldn't be that bad. It might even be her biggest, most exciting adventure yet!

A sharp stabbing pain in her lower abdomen signaled to Bulma that her baby was on the move. She instinctively touched the area where the child was kicking, and realized that the small lump sticking out of her gigantic tummy hardly felt like a leg. She quickly realized what is was--her baby's Saiyan tail. She giggled as she recalled the perplexed face of her doctor when he'd discovered it on a routine ultrasound. He had offered to remove it once the baby was born, but Bulma had adamantly refused--she couldn't do that without getting Vegeta's consent, freakishly inhuman though it was. The moon was gone, so thankfully she didn't have to worry about her baby becoming a giant, wild Oozaru.

A more pressing issue for Bulma was the baby's name. She didn't know its gender yet (by choice), so she and her mother had been pouring through baby name books, picking equal numbers of girl's and boy's names and comparing. Bulma was particularly fond of the name Trunks, and secretly wished the child she was carrying was a boy. She had a feeling that it was, but only his birth would confirm that suspicion.

Despite her excitement, her thoughts still often strayed to Vegeta. She couldn't help but wish he was helping her choose the baby's name, rather than her mother.

_The proud bastard would probably want to name it Vegeta Jr. or something, even if it is a girl_, Bulma thought mirthfully. "_Hello, I'm Bulma, and this is my daughter, Vegeta-ette." Ugh, yeah right. _

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a stabbing pain. She drew a sharp breath as her baby kicked again, more forcefully this time than she could ever remember feeling. The pain actually made her feel lightheaded, and she scrambled for the dining room table to take a seat.

And that's when it happened. With a light "pop," warm liquid began gushing down Bulma's legs--the emptying contents of her amniotic sac. It was time. Her heart began racing immediately.

"MOM! DAD!"

They didn't have to be told twice.

***

Getting to the hospital hadn't been too difficult, though the usually scatterbrained Dr. Briefs had been nearly incapable of driving in his nervous state. If her contractions weren't happening so quickly, Bulma would have flown the aircraft to the hospital herself.

Once inside her hospital room, a nurse came in to check on Bulma, and tested to see how far along she was in labor. Bulma was surprised to find she was almost at ten centimeters' dilation already; this baby was coming, and it was coming soon! A small part of her still held onto the hope that Vegeta would be here to see this, but it was the last thing on her mind. All she could focus on now were her excruciating contractions and the undeniably intense urge to push.

"Keep breathing," the nurse instructed her with a warm smile. Bulma attempted to smile back, but all she could manage was a lopsided grimace.

"The doctor will be in momentarily to check on you. Relax," the nurse said as she left the hospital room. Dr. and Mrs. Briefs were at their daughter's side. Bunny stroked away a few stray strands of Bulma's cerulean hair while Dr. Briefs stared wide-eyed at his daughter's obvious discomfort, clearly at a loss.

"Dear, why don't you do something useful and get us some coffee? Gaping in the corner isn't going to help anything," Bunny instructed her husband, who gladly left the room, now with a clear goal in mind.

"Thanks Mom," Bulma managed through ragged breaths.

Bunny smiled knowingly, and was about to offer her daughter some encouraging words before she was cut off by Bulma's cry of pain.

"Oh--Kami--it hurts!" Bulma groaned, squeezing either side of the bed railing in an attempt to gauge the pain.

The doctor entered seconds later, much to the two women's relief, and checked to her dilation.

"Oh wow!" he cried. "This one is a restless little thing! You're not going to be in labor for too much longer, Ms. Briefs." He turned to Bunny. "Would you like to stay inside while we deliver the baby?"

Bunny nodded eagerly, and soon found herself wearing a facial mask and a pair of rubber gloves. The nurse that had accompanied Bulma before came back inside to assist and observe.

Less than thirty minutes later, the doctors were instructing Bulma to push as hard as she could. She performed brilliantly, staying focused and controlling her breathing exactly as she'd been taught. There was a crucial moment when the pain peaked, and Bulma was sure she would fall unconscious, but the sight of a lavender tuft of hair--her son's hair--kept her awake.

"It's a boy!" Bunny cried, shaking with almost uncontrollable excitement. Bulma breathed a deep sigh of relief as the pain slowly subsided. It was a peculiar feeling, really; it was almost as if she was going numb, rather than recovering from the intense pain.

"Can I see my son?" Bulma asked weakly, but all at once she noticed that nobody was paying attention. They were staring down at her lower body with horrified looks on their faces, while the nurse took her wailing newborn and proceeded to clean him.

The pale, terror-stricken face of her mother was the last thing Bulma registered before losing all coherence.

***

Vegeta braced himself as Dr. Briefs' spaceship prepared for re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. The sensation was not a pleasant one, but it was one that Vegeta had grown used to throughout the years. As the ship quickly approached its landing, he could barely make out the outline of Capsule Corporation. He smirked; the woman would not doubt be surprised to see him. He was arriving one month early, and with good reason--he wasn't going to miss the birth of his child.

He had made his second Super Saiyan transformation some two months beforehand, after a particularly deadly battle with a meteor shower that threatened to destroy his ship. His time afterwards had been dedicated to controlling the transformation, which he had not quite mastered. That, he decided, could easily be achieved on Earth, where his mate and child were waiting for him.

Vegeta had spent his lonely months in space deep in thought, particularly about Bulma, and her reluctance to tell him the truth about his Super Saiyan transformation. Though he had first considered her actions a betrayal, he had since decided it did not qualify as one. She was just being foolish--a human weakness he could easily get used to. He was nearly a controlled Super Saiyan now, and that was all that mattered. And, by his calculation, he still had one week to go before his child's birth. That should satisfy Bulma enough for her to forget his nine-month absence.

The second Vegeta set foot on the grass outside Capsule Corp, he sensed something was off. Nobody was on the compound, and the front door had been carelessly left open, the house key still lodged in the keyhole. Wherever the Briefs had gone, they had left in a hurry.

It didn't take Vegeta long to zero in on his mate's energy signal, which was somewhere off to the north. Her ki felt unusually weak, and it was flickering, as though she was falling in and out of consciousness. Was the baby here already?

Without hesitation, Vegeta shot into the sky in Bulma's general direction, and as he got closer he noticed her energy signal was coming from a giant medical building. He quickly decided on the best course of action--climb in through a window or enter through the front doors? To avoid questions, he inconspicuously went with the latter option, though as he did he moved with superhuman speed. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Deadly wrong.

The poor receptionist nearly collapsed when Vegeta walked up to the main desk and demanded, "Where is Bulma Briefs?"

The timid woman recovered slightly and stammered, "I'm s-sorry, sir?"

"BULMA BRIEFS, you insufferable fool! I know she's here, tell me where she is at once!"

A familiar voice rang out across the main lobby, and Vegeta knew who it was before he turned around.

"Vegeta, my boy, you made it! I knew you would, I've been tracking the ship's approach to Earth for the past week!" Dr. Briefs said, looking very proud of himself indeed. In his hand he held two full cups of coffee.

"Did you tell the woman I was coming?" Vegeta growled.

"No, of course not!" Dr. Briefs replied. "I wanted it to be a surprise! Come, follow me, she's upstairs."

Vegeta followed Dr. Briefs wordlessly, still unable to shake the feeling of dread creeping up his spine. As they approached Bulma's hospital room, they were met by a disheveled-looking Mrs. Briefs. Her cheeks were tear-stained with mascara.

"Oh! Honey! I-it's horrible! She lost so much b-blood!" Mrs. Briefs legs seemed to give out at her words, and she slowly sunk to the ground in a heap. Dr. Briefs dropped the coffee cups and rushed to his wife's side immediately. The coffee spilled out and quickly spread across the white linoleum floor, staining Vegeta's gold-tipped boots instantly. But he didn't notice. Bulma's life force was barely there.

"What happened?" he demanded, his voice low and threatening. Seeing Bulma's usually cheery mother in a devastated mess only served to increase his agitation. Mrs. Briefs looked up at Vegeta with wide eyes, as if she'd just noticed him for the first time.

"The baby--his tail, it… he… his tail grabbed onto… something," she tried to explain feebly. "I didn't understand what the doctor said! All h-he said was the b-baby curled his tail around her u-uterus, and…"

Bunny didn't finish her sentence, and Vegeta didn't stick around to hear anything else. He moved forward and burst into the emergency room, paying no heed to the alarmed looks on the doctors' faces as he stormed up to the operating table without protective gloves or a facial mask.

"Sir," one of the younger physicians said firmly. "You need to leave. You're not authorized to be here, and you are putting the patient at risk for contamination."

Vegeta ignored the young physician and locked his eyes on the operating table, upon which the mess of blue hair and pale skin that could only be Bulma's body was visible. The doctor made another attempt to get him to leave before calling for security.

In the next several seconds, Vegeta seemed to hear a million things at once. The high-pitched beep from Bulma's heart monitor as it flat-lined. A sharp buzzing noise accompanying the doctors' frantic screams of "CLEAR!" as they tried to jump start Bulma's heart. The gruff voice of a security guard as he grabbed onto Vegeta's bicep and said, "Sir, you have to come with me." And the steady, sober voice of the operating physician as he hovered over Bulma's lower body.

"Nurse, call it," the physician said.

"Yes, doctor," a young woman replied, glancing at the wall clock. "Time of death, five thirty pm."

After that, Vegeta heard nothing else.

_***_

**THE END**

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… _JUST KIDDING_

**A/N: **FYI, the next chapter will probably be the last, but I make no promises. We'll see. Please review! I'll update soon. Hopefully. Or maybe I'll leave it here, who knows ;P (just kidding… again.)


	16. Starting Over

**Disclaimer: **Alright guys, I'm sorry. I've been holding out on you. I am not haysizzle. I am really Akira Toriyama, I DO own DBZ, and this is actually how it happened. So you can stop wondering now. Kthanksbye.

***

**Chapter 16: **Starting Over

***

Ever since Bulma was a little girl, she'd experienced a recurring nightmare: four men in white lab coats surrounded her, blinding white lights enveloped her, and all she could see were the stern faces of the men as they surveyed her exposed body. This nightmare had haunted her for years... and now she was living it. Now she understood what it meant.

The men in white lab coats were doctors. The blinding white lights were the operating lights against the backdrop of the pure white hospital wall. The stern faces were deep in concentration, trying to save her life. Everything made sense now. And as her vision began to darken, Bulma saw the unmistakable outline of Vegeta as he burst into the emergency room.

_At least I got to see him one last time..._

***

As Vegeta felt Bulma's life force flicker into nothingness, he became distinctly aware of a firm hand clasped around his arm. It was a security guard.

"Sir, please come with me..."

Vegeta flared his ki immediately, stunning the security guard and burning his hand. "What the--"

The Saiyan Prince paid no heed to the man and walked immediately up to the operating physician, grabbed him forcefully by the shoulders, and suppressed the urge to violently shake him. He spoke calmly, but with a distinguishable hint of malice: "What have you done to my mate?"

The physician was taken aback, both by Vegeta's threatening manner and his non-traditional use of the word "mate." But the man, seemingly used to enraged family members, replied evenly, "She lost too much blood and went into shock. I did what I could."

Vegeta scoffed. "Pitiful human technology," he muttered, glancing at Bulma's lifeless body. But even though the heart monitor could no longer read a heart beat, and even though the doctors had given up and called her time of death, Vegeta knew he still had one option left.

Nobody tried to stop him as he walked to Bulma's bedside and took her hand gently. It was still warm, but that just meant her body heat hadn't completely dissipated yet. Vegeta took a deep breath and concentrated his energy, raising it significantly and focusing only on her. He knew that his shock of ki would either jump start her heart or do nothing. It couldn't kill her--she was dead already.

The others in the room stood still and watched in astonishment as Vegeta's ki aura flared up again, flashing yellow. The energy was so potent that it made Bulma's bed rattle, and all of those present could feel his ki pressure. They watched, alarmed, when the golden-tinged aura surrounding Vegeta slowly began to recede as he filtered the energy through Bulma's limp body, delivering a light shock. This shock was unlike the jump start the doctors had given her--he was instilling within her his very life force.

A moment of perpetual silence followed, and then...

A beep on the heart monitor. Two beeps. Three beeps.

The doctors were dumbfounded. Vegeta turned swiftly away from the operating table, scowled fiercely at the head physician, and said, "Would you mind sewing her up?"

He just nodded, shocked into silence.

***

One blood transfusion and about twenty stitches later, Bulma was in stable condition, though she was still unconscious. Dr. and Mrs. Briefs sat by her hospital bed, Mrs. Briefs with her hand in Bulma's, while Vegeta stood in the corner of the room with his arms crossed, effortlessly silent. The silence between them wasn't awkward--it was necessary. Each of them were marveling at the tragedy narrowly avoided.

The kind nurse that had attended to Bulma before came in and addressed Vegeta, saying, "Excuse me sir, are you the husband?"

Vegeta narrowed his eyes suspiciously, unfamiliar with the marital term, though he could derive its meaning easily enough. He nodded. The nurse smiled warmly. "Would you like to see your son?"

That question took Vegeta completely off guard. In his preoccupation with Bulma's almost-death, he had completely forgotten why they were there in the first place. He followed her to the nursery, as did Dr. and Mrs. Briefs, and she pointed to a little baby boy with a small tuft of lavender hair. Vegeta didn't need her to point him out, of course, because he sensed his son's ki presence immediately and suppressed a smirk. He was superior in strength already.

"We still need someone to fill out a birth certificate," the nurse said gently. Vegeta furrowed his brows as the nurse handed him some official-looking papers. He stared blankly at the First Name, Last Name slots, unsure of what to do or write. Bunny giggled.

"Here," she said, taking it from him. "I supposed his last name will just have to be Briefs, since you don't have one. And his first name, well, Bulma and I never agreed on one. But I remember her favorite name..."

Bunny scribbled something onto the paper and held it out for Vegeta to see. He appraised the words, unable to hide his indignation. Trunks? Such a name was not worthy of his royal heritage. But he said nothing. If what her mother said was true, it was the name Bulma wanted. He was in no position to deny her.

The nurse retrieved baby Trunks from the nursery seconds later. The first thing Vegeta noticed about his son on a closer look was the tail, flicking and swishing as if it had a life of its own. This tail was the reason Bulma had almost died. His decision took only moments.

"Remove that blasted thing immediately."

***

Bulma became distinctly aware that she was conscious before anyone else in the room did. What she couldn't understand was why she couldn't open her eyes. She felt so heavy she could hardly move. All she managed was a stifled groan to signal those present that she was awake.

She heard her mother's squeal of surprise, and her father mutter something about getting a doctor. The sound that stood out to her the most, however, was the loud wailing of a baby coming from somewhere to her left. Although her body was swollen, she managed to crack her eyes open ever-so-slightly.

"I want to see my baby," she breathed, focusing only on his handsome little visage, bundled up in someone's arms. She couldn't distinguish who was holding him--all she could see was her little son, who stopped crying instantly as soon as Bulma spoke.

Bulma's mother went over to the little bundle and gently removed him from the other person's arms, bringing him over to Bulma so she could get a better look. Trunks stared at his mother curiously with big, bright blue eyes. Atop his head was a woolen cap, concealing his thin lavender hair. Bulma's eyes filled with tears, making her vision more blurry than it already was.

"W-what happened to me?" she asked, looking up at her mother. The effort it took to move her head was exhausting in itself.

"Well, honey," Mrs. Briefs replied slowly, "The reason your face is swollen right now is because you had a very unexpected allergic reaction to the morphine they gave you after the surgery. You've been unconscious for three days! As for what happened after little Trunks was born, well, you might want to hear that from the doctor. I don't think I could explain it properly..."

Bulma's heart surged with emotion. "You named him Trunks? I-I thought you hated that name? Not that it would have stopped me from calling him that, but..." She chuckled weakly.

Bunny smiled. "I knew that's what you wanted. I'm just so happy you're alive, darling! If it weren't for V--"

She was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a doctor, the same one Vegeta had threatened a few days before. He regarded her soberly.

"Ms. Briefs, so glad to see you're awake! How are you feeling?" he asked.

Bulma thought about it for a few seconds. "Like I just cheated death," she said finally.

The doctor smirked. "Yes, well... I still don't know how you lived. And I don't think I ever will understand it. You were officially dead for about five minutes, my dear," he admitted, though the news hardly surprised her.

The doctor waited for her to digest the information and continued. "You lost a lot of blood. That extra appendage the boy was born with somehow managed to wrap itself around your uterus and nearly tear it right out! You had to get a blood transfusion, and we almost lost you in the process. Then your, uhh, husband arrived and... well, the rest of it cannot be explained medically, so I shall not attempt it. The point is, you're alive! You had an unfortunate reaction to the morphine, but that will wear off in the next two days or so. You should be ready to return home by then." He smiled brightly at Bulma, who had stopped listening as soon as she'd heard him say "husband."

Bulma began searching the room frantically until she finally saw Vegeta and realized he had been the person holding Trunks before. He was staring at her with smoldering intensity, though his face retained its usual stoicism. Bulma averted her gaze instantly, and the room became thick with tension. Mrs. Briefs quickly got the hint. "Honey," she said, addressing Dr. Briefs. "Let's go for a walk, it's too stuffy in here for me!"

Bulma's parents and the doctor left abruptly, and Bulma took her son in her arms and held him as best she could, staring down at him in wonder. She was still painfully aware of Vegeta's presence beside her, but she'd made her up mind long ago to give him the silent treatment next time she saw him.

Vegeta broke the silence.

"You should see the color of his hair. Disgusting. A Saiyan prince was never meant to have such an appearance," he said, though he hardly sounded disgusted. He was regarding his son almost fondly.

Bulma removed the yellow woolen gasp and felt her heart swell again at the sight of his soft purple hair. He was beautiful.

"Kami," she breathed, as the baby fell into a quiet slumber.

She examined the sleeping infant carefully, mindful not to wake him. It took her a few moments to realize he was missing one vital component.

"Oh no, where's his tail?" she blurted, finally looking up at Vegeta. "I'm sorry they removed it! I told them not to..."

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Calm yourself woman. I told them to remove it."

Bulma's furrowed her brows. "But... why? I thought the tail was a sacred symbol of your Saiyan heritage, or... ?"

Vegeta put a hand up to silence her. "I'm sure if you search your brain for that small hint of intelligence you possess, you'll be able to derive why I authorized its removal," he said simply.

It took Bulma all of ten seconds to realize what he meant. Trunks' tail had inadvertently almost ended her life, and so, Vegeta had condemned it. She suddenly realized that removing Trunks' tail was probably the sweetest sign of affection she would ever receive from Vegeta.

Despite this pleasant revelation, Bulma still had a lot of questions for him. She started with an obvious one.

"How did you revive me? They said I died, and you did… something," she asked, unsure of what that "something" was. Vegeta had been expecting this question.

"You are not a warrior, and so you will not understand the concept of ki control. But in terms you can understand, I delivered a shock of energy to your body that was just enough to revive your heart. It worked better than the machine those foolish humans used on you because it was life energy, and, more importantly, the life energy of your mate. On Vegetasei, mates have the ability to revive each other because it is thought that one cannot survive long without the other. I wasn't sure if it would work on you, being a human, but…" He trailed off, leaving Bulma to ponder the phenomenon of Saiyan mating.

"Wow," was all she managed to say, though her thirst for answers was far from satiated.

"Before you left, you said something about the three conditions of being your mate," she began. "Um, if I remember correctly, they were no adultery, no lying, and… you never got a chance to tell me the third thing." She blushed sheepishly at the memory, when she'd interrupted him to admit she'd seen him go Super Saiyan.

"Oh. That," Vegeta said, a smirk playing at the corner of his lips. He had to bite down his pride to answer her, but he knew she would be unimaginably pleased with his response. "The final condition is more like a promise. As long as you adhere to the previous two conditions, I will never leave you. Or our son." He indicated the sleeping infant in Bulma's arms before finishing, "Until, of course, death brings about my end."

A smile spread across Bulma's face. The swelling had gone down some, though she knew her head probably still looked like a giant tomato. She didn't care. Vegeta's shameless confession made her feel radiant.

"I hope you don't have any more questions for me, woman, because I'm in no mood to speak of these despicable human emotions any further," he said, measurably annoyed.

"Just one more question," Bulma said, glancing fondly down at her sleeping baby. "What do you think of the name Trunks?"

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "It is ridiculous. But then again, so are you. I may as well get used to it."

Bulma chuckled. Despite her physical condition, she felt a wave of relief wash over her. When she looked into Vegeta's eyes, she saw everything she needed to see, and everything he would never say. It felt like they were starting over.

She liked that idea.

***

**THE (REAL) END**

**A/N: **OMG guys I finally ended it! It was haaaard, too. This is my first finished fic… wow. Thanks so much for all of your support! Honestly, if it weren't for your kind words and encouragement, I would never have finished. Thank you to those of you who took time to not only praise, but critique my work, and thanks to those of you who reviewed practically every chapter and stuck with me. I appreciate it all!

My next DBZ fanfic will be posted soon. It's called Reckoning—the untold story of the Mirai timeline. I'm going to start with Goku's death from the heart virus and end right around the time Gohan is killed by Androids 17 and 18. Put me on your author alert if you want to read more of my stuff, I have a thousand ideas brewing right now. Eventually I'll write another B/V, and Reckoning should have some B/V (though that's not really the focus of the story).

P.S. I just wanted to note, that what happened to Bulma in this fic, also happened to my mom when my little brother was born. My bro didn't have a tail (of course, lol), but something along the same lines happened to her--she lost a lot of blood and almost died. They had to jump start her heart and everything. So that's where the inspiration came from, in case you were wondering.

Alright well, I guess that's it. Wow. Thanks again everyone! I really enjoyed writing this & I'm so glad I got to share this with all of you :)


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